Delegation of Authority by an Agent

Authors

Floyd R. Mechem, University of Chicago

Abstract

I. DELEGATUS NON POTEST DELEGARI.-The appointment of an agent in any particular case is made, as a rule, because he is supposed by his principal to have some fitness for the performance of the duties to be undertaken. In certain cases his appointment is owing to the fact that he is considered, to be especially and particularly fit. The undertaking demands judgment and discretion, which he is supposed to possess; or it requires the skill and learning of an expert, which he assumes to be; or personal force and influence are desirable, and these the agent is thought to be able to exercise. Here is the delectus personce, and it is obvious that unless the principal has expressly or impliedly consented to the employment of a substitute, the agent owes to the principal the duty of a personal discharge of the trust. 2. GENERAL RULE.-Hence it is the general rule 9 f the law that in the absence of any authority, either express or implied, to employ a subagent, the trust committed to the agent is presumed to be exclusively personal and cannot be delegated by him to another so as to affect the rights of the principal.

Recommended Citation

Floyd R. Mechem, Delegation of Authority by an Agent, 5 Mich. L. Rev. 94 (1906).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol5/iss2/2