Legal Definitions - agens

Agens is a Latin term referring to one who acts or performs an act, essentially an agent. In a legal context, it can also specifically denote a plaintiff, who is the party initiating a lawsuit.

The term agens refers to an individual or entity that performs an action or initiates a process. In a specific legal context, it can also denote the party who brings a lawsuit, similar to a plaintiff.

• Example 1: A lawyer, acting on behalf of a client, files a motion in court to compel discovery. In this scenario, the lawyer is the agens because they are performing a specific legal act on behalf of another party, their client.

• Example 2: A city council votes to implement a new zoning ordinance to regulate urban development. Here, the city council acts as the agens, as it is the governmental body actively performing the legislative act of creating and enforcing the new policy.

• Example 3: A small business owner discovers that a competitor has illegally copied their product design and decides to file a lawsuit for intellectual property infringement. The business owner, by initiating this legal action, is considered the agens in the lawsuit, acting as the plaintiff.