Interpretation ID: nht91-6.23

DATE: October 16, 1991

FROM: Paul Jackson Rice -- Chief Counsel, NHTSA

TO: Lawrence A. Beyer -- Esq.

TITLE: None

ATTACHMT: Attached to letter dated 9-23-91 from Lawrence A. Beyer to Paul Jackson Rice (OCC 6507)

TEXT:

This responds to your letter of September 23, 1991, with respect to your representation of clients before this agency.

Specifically, you state that you have been advised "by an office of NHTSA that attorneys cannot submit documentation and make declarations on behalf of clients unless they submit formal power of attorney documentation which authorizes such representation." This representation "includes the preparation and submission of completed documentation on their behalf." You have asked to be advised whether it is NHTSA's policy "that I have to provide proof to NHTSA that my statement that I represent a party is true."

We understand that the Office to which you refer is the Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance. We further understand that the particular situation that gives rise to your question is your filing of petitions to determine the eligibility of vehicles for importation.

It is not a question of "proof" whether you represent a person, but whether you are purporting to exercise a right or obligation that is not legally yours. By statute, only a manufacturer or registered importer may file petitions for determinations of vehicle eligibility. If a registered importer chooses to have an attorney prepare and submit such a petition, and the importer himself signs the petition, no authorization is required for the attorney to file the petition with NHTSA. We have at hand two petitions you submitted on July 15, 1991, on behalf of G & K Conversions, a registered importer, which meet this criterion; each petition is signed by the president of G & K, and accompanied by your cover letter. This is in accordance with our procedures. If, on the other hand, the importer chooses to have the attorney sign the petition in his place, then a power of attorney is required. Thus, the general rule applicable to a particular situation involving the submission of legal documents to NHTSA is that an attorney may act on behalf of his client without a power of attorney, but he may not assume a legal right or an obligation of the client without the client's explicit authorization.

We find implicit authorization by G & K that you represent them by your filing of documents bearing the signature of its president. By the same token, we find implicit authorization to respond when attorneys reply to the agency's investigatory or civil penalty letters on behalf of companies or persons to which letters have been sent.