Also known as: third-person · third persons · third party
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A person who is not a direct party to a transaction, agreement, or legal proceeding but who may be affected by it or hold related rights or obligations. The term identifies an outsider whose interests or conduct can trigger duties, liabilities, or protections for the primary actors.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Tiana Tan hired attorney Tracy Torres to settle an insurance claim. Torres received settlement proceeds that belonged partly to Tiana and partly to hospital lienholder Threshold Capital. Torres placed the entire sum in her personal operating account instead of a trust account. The commingling violated the duty to segregate third-person property from the lawyer's own funds.
Thunderbolt Motors let sales manager Taliah Tang use company letterhead and attend client meetings without disclaimers. Taliah signed a financing agreement with buyer Thomas Thompson on Thunderbolt letterhead. Thomas reasonably believed Taliah spoke for the dealership. The dealership is bound because its manifestations created apparent authority in dealings with the third person.
Tori Taylor leased an apartment from Talon Security under a residential lease. Vandals broke in and damaged the unit. The lease contained no contrary agreement. Because the damage resulted from the conduct of third persons rather than the landlord's failure to meet housing codes, the landlord owes no repair obligation.
Tristan Thompson swung a fist intending to strike his coworker but missed and hit bystander Taliah Tang instead. Tristan acted with intent to cause harmful contact with another person. Because the blow landed on the third person, Tristan is liable to Taliah for battery.
Thomas Thompson bought a house from seller Tori Taylor. Bank Tidal Energy supplied the purchase funds and took a mortgage on the same day title passed. The mortgage qualifies as a purchase-money mortgage because the loan proceeds enabled acquisition of the real estate from a third-party lender.
Tracy Torres and her husband held their home as tenants by the entirety. While divorce proceedings were pending, Tracy executed a will leaving the house to her sister Tiana Tan. Tracy died before the divorce was final. Title passed by operation of law to the surviving spouse. The will could not dispose of the property to the third person.
A lawyer must promptly notify the third person upon receiving funds or other property in which the third person has an interest. The lawyer must also deliver the funds or property the third person is entitled to receive and render a full accounting on request.
Supporting sources
No. Apparent authority survives internal termination of actual authority unless the principal takes reasonable steps to notify third persons of the change. Third persons who reasonably rely on prior manifestations remain protected.
…Appellants own the Grand Central Terminal, which has been designated a landmark. They entered into a lease agreement with a third party to construct a multistory office building above the terminal. The Commission rejected the proposed construction, finding that it would destroy the terminal's historic and aesthetic…
…441-442. Since the Presidential elections of 1856 and 1860, when the Whigs were replaced as a major party by the Republicans, no third party
…intrusive requirement of spousal notification , not consent. Such a law requiring only notice to the husband "does not give any
…of immediate review would render impossible any review whatever of an individual's claims. When a subpoena is directed to a third party
…between the defendants recites that the relationship of principal and agent is not created, in particular transactions involving third persons
Supporting sources
A landlord is relieved when the failure to meet health, safety, or housing codes results from the conduct of third persons rather than the landlord's own fault or a sudden non-manmade force. The lease may also alter the obligation if the parties validly agree otherwise.
Supporting sources
Yes. If an actor intends harmful or offensive contact with one person and the contact instead occurs with another, the actor is liable to the unintended victim as fully as if the actor had intended to affect that victim.
Supporting sources
A purchase-money mortgage to a third-party lender exists when the loan proceeds are used to acquire title to real estate or construct improvements on it, provided the mortgage is given in the same transaction in which title is acquired.
Supporting sources