HowtoWriteaPowerofAttorneyforLegalRepresentativeinEnglish:AStep-by-StepGuide

Lastweek,myneighborLisacalledmeinapanic.SherunsasmallcoffeeshopinBeijingandjustlandedadealwithaninternationalsupplier.ThesupplierrequiredaPowerofAttorneydocumentinEnglish,signedbyhercompany’slegalrepresentative.Lisahadnoideawheretostart—she’dneverdealtwithlegaldocumentsinEnglishbefore.Afterhelpingherdraftone,Irealizedmanysmallbusinessownersfacesimilarchallengeswhendealingwithcross-bordertransactions.Here’showtotackleit.

WhatIsaLegalRepresentativePowerofAttorney?

Thinkofitlikegivingsomeonethekeystoyourcar—butforyourbusiness.APowerofAttorney(POA)letsyourlegalrepresentativehandlespecifictasks,likesigningcontractsormanagingbanktransactions,onbehalfofyourcompany.Lisaneededthistoauthorizeheroperationsmanagertonegotiatewiththeoverseassupplier.

KeySectionsinanEnglishPOA

1.PrincipalandAgentDetails:Startwithfullnames,companyroles,andregisteredaddresses.Lisa’sPOAincludedhercompany’sBeijingbusinesslicensenumberforclarity. 2.ScopeofAuthority:Bespecific—cantheysigndeals?Transferfunds?Lisalimitedhermanager’spowertoprocurement-relateddecisions. 3.ValidityPeriod：Lisaseta6-monthwindowtomatchthesupplier’sprojecttimeline.

CommonMistakestoAvoid

Lisaalmostskippedtwocriticalsteps: -Notarization:SomecountriesrequirePOAstobenotarized.Wecheckedthesupplier’slocallawsandgotitstampedataBeijingnotaryoffice. -AmbiguousLanguage：Phraseslike"handleallmatters"cancreateloopholes.Welistedexactactionsinstead.

WheretoGetHelp

LocalbusinessregistrationagenciesinBeijingoftenprovidebilingualtemplates.Forcomplexcases(likeLisa’scross-borderdeal),alegaltranslatororinternationallawfirmcanensureaccuracy.