Legal Definitions - imputation

Imputation refers to the act of attributing or assigning responsibility, fault, knowledge, or an action to a person or entity, even if they did not directly perform the action or possess the knowledge themselves. In legal contexts, it often involves holding one party accountable for the actions or knowledge of another, based on a legal relationship or principle.

Here are a few examples to illustrate this concept:

• Employer Responsibility for Employee Actions: Imagine a delivery driver for a catering company, while on their way to deliver an order, causes a minor traffic accident due to a momentary lapse in attention.

  In this scenario, the driver's negligence and any resulting liability can be imputed to the catering company. This means the company, as the employer, can be held legally responsible for the driver's actions because the driver was acting within the scope of their employment, even though the company itself did not directly cause the accident.

• Client Knowledge Through Their Agent: Consider a situation where a financial advisor, managing investments for a client, receives an official notice from a regulatory body about a new rule impacting one of the client's specific investments.

  Legally, the knowledge of that new rule is imputed to the client. Even if the advisor has not yet had the chance to inform the client directly, the law often treats the client as having that knowledge because their authorized agent (the financial advisor) possesses it. This principle ensures that a party cannot claim ignorance when their representative was aware of critical information relevant to their duties.