Introduction

The American Restatements of the Law consist of statements of general principles of law for the area concerned, accompanied by a technical commentary which provides explanation and development of those principles, and further notes by the Reporter on the particular topic raised, giving indications of case-law in the area (which often contains conflicting lines of decision one of which may have been chosen) and references to relevant secondary literature. Of necessity, they may well in areas of controversy adopt particular formulations of principle rather than others: that is to say, they may contain creative choices of principle by the Reporter, approved by the Institute. In their format they are codes, or quasi-codes, for particular legal topics, accompanied by two levels of commentary. With the possibility of minor exceptions in very small dependent territories, they have however no legislative force. No court in the United States need adhere to the principles chosen. Rather, they are put forward by a prestigious but private organisation, the American Law Institute, as offering authoritative but optional guidance in the area of law restated. They carry considerable weight in the United States, but they do not in general bind any court charged with giving a decision.

The differences of style between the new Restatement (Third) of Agency and its predecessor, Restatement (Second) of Agency of 1958, are explained by Professor Deborah DeMott, the Reporter for Restatement (Third), in the previous chapter.