Lincoln Cardinal Partners v. Barrick

We hold here that a purported agent’s otherwise apparent authority to contractually bind a principal to a third party is destroyed when a showing is made requiring the third party to recognize that a conflict of interest exists between the purported agent and the principal. We do not hold that a mere showing that a purported agent has a personal interest in a contract, without a showing the interest conflicts with that of a principal, negates a determination that the purported agent has apparent authority.

On May 30, 1990, plaintiff Lincoln Cardinal Partners, an Illinois partnership, filed a…