Landor v. Louisiana Dept of Corrections and Public Safety · ¶27
That much does not follow even from the precepts Mr. Landor cites. Certainly, an agent usually must obey his principal’s directions and sometimes may bind his principal. But when a principal (here, LDOC) enters a contract with a third party (here, the federal government), as a matter of blackletter contract law the principal’s agents do not become “liable” to the third party for their principal’s “nonperformance.” Restatement (Second) of Agency §328 (boldface deleted); see also, e.g., 12 R. Lord, Williston on Contracts §35:34, p. 502 (4th ed. 2012) (“The agent cannot enforce the [principal’s] contract, nor is the agent bound by it” (footnote omitted)); Hodgson v. Dexter, 1 Cranch 345, 363 (1803) (Marshall, C. J., for the Court) (“It is too clear to be controverted, that . . . contracts made on account of the government . . . are obligatory on the government; not the [government’s]…Read in context ›
slip opinion, revised 6/28/26
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