The term attorney-in-fact is used in several states of the United States in place of the term agent and should be distinguished from the term attorney-at-law. An attorney-at-law in the United States is a lawyer — someone licensed to practice law in a particular jurisdiction. The Uniform Power of Attorney Act employs the term agent.
As an agent, an attorney-in-fact is a fiduciary for the principal, so the law requires an attorney-in-fact to be completely honest with and loyal to the principal in their dealings with each other. If the attorney-in-fact is being paid to act for the principal, the contract is usually separate from the power of attorney itself, so if that contract is in writing, it is a separate document, kept private between them, whereas the power of attorney is intended to be shown to various other people.
In the context of the unincorporated reciprocal inter-insurance exchange (URIE) the attorney-in-fact is a stakeholder/trustee who takes custody of the subscriber funds placed on deposit with him, and then uses those funds to pay insurance claims. When all the claims are paid, the attorney-in-fact then returns the leftover funds to the subscribers.
Read more about this topic: Power Of Attorney