A person who acts on a principal’s behalf in a negotiation. Agents – such as lawyers, sports agents, or diplomats – may have special training or be able to assert the principal’s interests more effectively than the principal. (Michael L. Moffitt and Robert C. Bordone, eds., Handbook of Dispute Resolution [Program on Negotiation/Jossey-Bass, 2005], 189). Also see “principal-agent theory.”
