Fiduciary Obligations in Business

Leading scholars analyze key issues in fiduciary duties in business―one of the most salient applications of fiduciary law and theory.

Academics, lawyers, and judges regularly grapple with difficult questions regarding fiduciary duties in business and how they differ across a range of firms. This volume assembles diverse but complementary perspectives from leading scholars on doctrinal, historical, and policy issues in fiduciary obligations and corporate governance.The scholarship on fiduciary duties in business organizations is often pulled in two directions. While most observers would agree that business organizations are one of the key contexts for the application of the fiduciary obligation, corporate law theorists have often expressed disdain for the role of fiduciary duties, with the result that fiduciary law and theory have been out of step with the business world. This volume aims to rectify this situation by bringing together a range of scholars to analyze fiduciary relationships and the fiduciary obligation in the business context. Contributing authors examine fiduciary obligations in fields ranging from entity structure to bankruptcy to investment regulation. The volume demonstrates that fiduciary law can inform pressing corporate governance debates, including discussions over stakeholder models of the corporation that move beyond shareholder interests.