Trends Worth Watching In Fiduciary Duty Litigation

It has long been recognized that partners owe fiduciary duties of loyalty and care to one another and that officers and directors owe such fiduciary duties to the corporations they serve and to the corporation’s shareholders. Although many recent cases involving allegations of breaches of fiduciary duties have garnered attention primarily for the sensational facts involved (the saga of The Walt Disney Company’s hiring and almost immediate – and expensive – termination of Michael Ovitz comes immediately to mind), the headlines have obscured some important developments in the law. The Delaware courts, for example, are now recognizing and beginning to articulate an independent duty of good faith owed by directors. Some of the most interesting recent developments in fiduciary duty law, however, have involved fiduciary relationships outside the usual partner-officer-director arena.