Also known as: unauthorised · unauthorize · unauthorizes · unauthorizing
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
An act or thing done without authority. A signature or indorsement is unauthorized when made without actual, implied, or apparent authority.
Ugo Ucelli, a solo practitioner, left a client's confidential file on an unsecured laptop in a coffee shop. A thief took the device and accessed the materials. The client later discovered the exposure and claimed Ucelli failed to prevent unauthorized access to representation-related information.
Ulric Unger and several others gathered inside an apparently abandoned house for a party involving drugs. Officers arrived, observed the barren interior and the occupants' conduct, and inferred the gathering lacked permission. They arrested the group for unlawful entry on the basis of that inference.
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Uma Upadhyay signed a deed conveying family land even though she held no power of attorney and was not the record owner. The buyer later discovered the signature came from an unauthorized person. The deed was held voidable because only authorized individuals may execute closing documents.
Umar Usmani and other shareholders sued to enjoin a corporate transaction that the board had approved without required shareholder consent. The court considered whether the act was unauthorized and, if so, whether equitable relief and damages for actual losses were appropriate.
Umeko Uchida received a check that had been changed by adding an extra zero after the original amount. Because the change was unauthorized, the instrument was treated as altered under the rules governing negotiable instruments.
Uri Underwood discovered that a publisher had used his life story in a commercial book without permission. The court recognized that the unauthorized commercial exploitation of his identity gave rise to liability even without defamation.
No. The term focuses on the absence of authority rather than the actor's state of mind. A person may act in good faith yet still lack actual, implied, or apparent authority.
Supporting sources
An act can be unauthorized without being criminal. For example, a lawyer's inadvertent disclosure or a corporate board's act beyond its bylaw limits may be unauthorized yet not rise to a crime.
Yes in many contexts. Principals may affirm an agent's unauthorized contract, and shareholders may ratify an unauthorized corporate act, provided affected parties receive notice and equity permits.
A signature is unauthorized when made without actual, implied, or apparent authority. The UCC treats such a signature as ineffective to bind the purported signer unless the signer is precluded from denying it.
In the right-of-publicity context the use must exploit the plaintiff's identity for the defendant's commercial benefit. Noncommercial uses, such as incidental news reporting, ordinarily do not trigger liability.
…the debtor was served with process, or actually appeared and answered in the suit. The court say the judgment was "not only unauthorized by law, but rendered in violation of its express provisions." Johnson v. Dodge was a proceeding in the same action to obtain a reversal on appeal of the general judgment, and did not…