Fiduciary Relationships: Ensuring the Loyal Exercise of Judgement on Behalf of Another

Abstract

In this article, I present a theory of fiduciary relationships that seeks to address both the justification and the content of fiduciary duties. It will also address the question of remedies, which sheds important and neglected light on the question why this part of the law has the shape that it does. All three aspects — the reasons we impose these duties, what these duties require, and the remedies associated with them — are linked to one another in a conceptual unity that reveals the interlocking aspects of private law’s concern with relationships in which one person is empowered to exercise decision-making authority on behalf of another.

Keywords: Fiduciary obligations, loyalty, trusts, trustees, agency, partnership, directors, corporations, executors

JEL Classification: K1