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University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

Series

1997

Fiduciary duty

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Law

Fiduciary Duty, Contract, And Waiver In Partnerships And Limited Liability Companies, Richard A. Booth Marbury Research Professor Of Law Jan 1997

Fiduciary Duty, Contract, And Waiver In Partnerships And Limited Liability Companies, Richard A. Booth Marbury Research Professor Of Law

Faculty Scholarship

Among the controversies swirling around the promulgations of new uniform statutes governing partnerships and LLCs is the question whether and to what extend fiduciary duties should be made mandatory or waivable. Although courts and commentators have not traditionally focused on the costs of fiduciary duties, the costs are significant in that such duties may preclude agents from engaging in other legitimate ventures. Indeed, fiduciary duty may be used by those to whom it is owed to prevent competition or extort side benefits form participants. Mandatory duties effectively require participants who may identify multiple business opportunities to overinvest their human capital …


Stockholders, Stakeholders, And Bagholders (Or How Investor Diversification Affects Fiduciary Duty), Richard A. Booth Marbury Research Professor Of Law Jan 1997

Stockholders, Stakeholders, And Bagholders (Or How Investor Diversification Affects Fiduciary Duty), Richard A. Booth Marbury Research Professor Of Law

Faculty Scholarship

The traditional wisdom is that management should serve the interests of the corporation and the stockholders who own it by maximizing stockholder wealth. But a significant number of legal scholars argue that management duty should be more broadly construed to include other constituencies ("stakeholders"), such as employees, creditors, customers, suppliers, and the community at large. The broader view of management duty means that management has more discretion and that stockholders will seldom have recourse if management fails to maximize profits. Nevertheless, many states have adopted so-called other constituency statutes permitting management to consider such other interests. The difference between the …