Proxy
Proxy, in law, a person who acts as a substitute for another person in some transaction. The document giving the substitute the legal right to act may also be termed a proxy.
Voting by proxy is generally confined to business, but was once practiced in political elections in Great Britain. A stockholder or group of stockholders may designate persons to act as proxies for a number of reasons. A corporation's management usually appoints a representative to act as a proxy for stockholders who approve of management policy and find it inconvenient to attend the annual stockholders meetings. These stockholders sign powers of attorney (generally these documents are also called proxies) that give the management representative the right to vote their shares of stock.
When persons trying to overturn a firm's management request proxies from dissatisfied stockholders a proxy fight may result.
Marriage by proxy is a marriage in which a substitute appears for one of the partners at the ceremony. Such marriages are rare except in times of war when many couples desiring marriage find themselves separated by long distances for long periods of time. Proxy marriages are not legally recognized in some parts of the United States.