Also known as: per alium stetisse · agency by another · representation
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A Latin maxim expressing that a legal consequence or liability arose because of something done by another person. The maxim identifies the operative cause of a party's position as the conduct of someone else rather than the party's own direct action.
The state legislature directed appointment of presidential electors through a statute that vested the governor with authority to certify the slate. When a candidate challenged the certification, the court held that the governor's action stood because the legislature had conferred the power. The maxim applied because the governor's certification derived entirely from the legislature's prior enactment.
A former agency lawyer joined a private firm and learned that a new matter involved a client adverse to a person about whom the lawyer held confidential government information. The firm screened the lawyer from the matter and gave prompt notice to the agency. The representation could proceed because the lawyer's disqualification stood solely on the prior government service of another.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A landowner told a neighbor that a path across the property would remain open permanently. The neighbor then built a driveway connecting to the path and incurred substantial expense. When the landowner later tried to close the path, the court imposed a servitude because the neighbor's change of position stood on the landowner's earlier representation.
A manufacturing startup listed a retired engineer as a founding partner in its brochures and website with the engineer's approval. A supplier extended credit after reviewing the materials and relying on the engineer's apparent status. The engineer became personally liable for the unpaid balance because the supplier's extension of credit stood on the public representation made by the startup.
A party signed a premarital agreement without receiving independent legal counsel or the required statutory notice explaining waived rights. The court refused to enforce the waiver provisions because the party's consent stood on the absence of the protections the statute mandated for the other spouse's benefit.
A decedent left no surviving spouse but was survived by two children and three grandchildren whose parent had predeceased the decedent. The probate court distributed the estate to the grandchildren in equal shares with the surviving children because the grandchildren's shares stood on the representation of their deceased parent's line.
No. The maxim simply identifies that the legal consequence traces to another's act or representation. It applies whether the conduct was authorized, negligent, or merely a public holding out, as long as the consequence stands on that conduct.
Supporting sources
Direct liability arises from one's own acts. The maxim shifts focus to liability or a right that exists only because of what another did, such as when a third party relies on a representation made by or about someone else.
Supporting sources
Yes. When a state official's action derives entirely from a legislative grant of power, the official's conduct stands on the legislature's prior enactment under the maxim.
Screening and notice can allow continued representation by removing the disqualified lawyer's participation, but the underlying disqualification itself still stands on the lawyer's prior government service.
…patrician, highly unrepresentative panel of nine is to violate a principle even more fundamental than no taxation without representation: no social transformation without representation. II But what really astounds is the hubris reflected in today’s judicial Putsch. The five Justices who compose today’s majority are…