Attorneys are Agents of the Client
Attorneys are agents acting on behalf of the client as principal. As early as 1926, the Florida Supreme Court considered it “a well-settled principle of law that an attorney acting within the scope of his authority represents his client and his acts of omission as well as commission are to be regarded as the acts of the person he represents . . . .” Griffith v. Inv. Co., 110 So. 271, 271 (Fla. 1926).
In other words, “an attorney serves as agent for his client; the attorney’s acts are the acts of the principal, the client.” Andrew H. Boros, P.A., v. Arnold P. Carter, M.D., P.A., 537 So. 2d 1134, 1135 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989) (citations omitted). This can carry serious consequences since “when a defendant is represented by counsel, the ‘acts of an attorney on behalf of a client will be binding on the client even though done without consulting him and even against the client’s wishes.’” Sims v. State, 867 So. 2d 1208, 1210 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004) (quotation omitted).
“Professionals, such as lawyers and accountants are always agents of their clients.” Brooks Tropicals, Inc. v. Acosta, 959 So. 2d 288, 295 (Fla. 3d DCA 2007) (quotation omitted). “It is axiomatic that knowledge of the agent constitutes knowledge of the principal as long as the agent received such knowledge while acting within the scope of his authority.” Id. In other words, if an attorney has knowledge of something pertaining to his or her client’s case, the client is also presumed to have such knowledge, even if the attorney ultimately fails to pass the information along.
This has been codified in the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration, which states:
In all matters concerning the prosecution or defense of any proceeding in the court, the attorney of record shall be the agent of the client, and any notice by or to the attorney or act by the attorney in the proceeding shall be accepted as the act of or notice to the client.
Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.505(h). Finally, “[a]n attorney acts as the client’s representative, and representations made to the attorney are representations made to that attorney’s client.” Cruise v. Graham, 622 So. 2d 37, 39 (Fla. 4th DCA 1993) (citations omitted).