Director & Officer Liability: 8 Tips For Protecting Your Personal Assets

If you're invited to become a director or an officer of a corporation, there are many things to consider but often overlooked is the issue of what you should do to protect your personal assets from your potential personal liabilities as a director or officer.

I'm sure you are all aware that a corporation is a separate legal entity with its own assets and liabilities. It is still a basic principle in our corporate law that employees, officers and directors are not personally responsible for the debts of a corporation. All business corporation statutes, however, impose a standard of conduct upon directors and officers and if directors or officers fall below that standard they will be exposed to personal liability. In discharging duties to the corporation, every director and officer shall: