Also known as: emissaries · envoy · agent
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A person sent on a special mission as another's agent or representative, especially to promote a cause or to gain information.
Erika Echevarria hired Emanuel Escobar as her emissary to investigate a competitor before filing suit. Escobar prepared detailed memos outlining anticipated claims. When the opposing party sought those memos in discovery, the court denied the request because they were prepared in anticipation of litigation by the party's representative.
Enigma Technologies sent Elise Everly as its emissary to negotiate a supply contract. While the relationship existed, Everly told the buyer that the company would cover all defects. At trial the buyer offered the statement against Enigma Technologies, and the court admitted it as a statement by the party's agent on a matter within the scope of the relationship.
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Edith Eberhardt appointed Ella Emerson as her emissary to manage all real-estate acquisitions over several years. Emerson negotiated and closed multiple purchases on Eberhardt's behalf. Because Emerson was authorized to conduct a series of transactions involving continuity of service, she qualified as a general agent.
Eric Espinoza and his partners formed Echo Systems. Espinoza, acting as the firm's emissary, signed a supply contract in the partnership name during the ordinary course of business. The contract bound the partnership because the act appeared to carry on the partnership's usual business.
Everlasting Insurance, as trustee, selected Echelon Security as its emissary to perform routine investment monitoring. The trustee exercised reasonable care in choosing the emissary and in setting the scope of the delegation. The arrangement satisfied the prudent-trustee standard for selecting an agent.
After arrest, federal agents sent an emissary known to the defendant to question him about the offense. The defendant made an oral statement in response. Upon the defendant's request, the government disclosed the substance of that statement because it intended to use the statement at trial.
An emissary is a person sent on a special mission as another's agent or representative. The Restatement defines a general agent as one authorized to conduct a series of transactions involving continuity of service, which aligns with the emissary's role when the mission extends over multiple acts.
A statement by an emissary is admissible as non-hearsay if made by the party's agent on a matter within the scope of the relationship while it existed. The rule treats the emissary's statement as the party's own admission.
Work-product protection ordinarily shields documents prepared in anticipation of litigation by or for a party or its representative, including an emissary. The protection applies unless the requesting party shows substantial need and undue hardship.
…of two kinds and he exercises functions in two distinct capacities: as a public ministerial officer of the United States and as agent of the President. In the first capacity his duty is to the United States or its citizens; in the other his duty is to the President. In the former capacity he is compellable by mandamus to…