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Full-Text Articles in Law
The Expressive Function Of Directors’ Duties To Creditors, Jonathan C. Lipson
The Expressive Function Of Directors’ Duties To Creditors, Jonathan C. Lipson
All Faculty Scholarship
This Article offers an explanation of the “doctrine” of directors’ duties to creditors. Courts frequently say—but rarely hold—that corporate directors owe duties to or for the benefit of corporate creditors when the corporation is in distress. These cases are puzzling for at least two reasons. First, they link fiduciary duty to priority in right of payment, effectively treating creditors as if they were shareholders, at least for certain purposes. But this ignores the fact that priority is a complex and volatile concept. Moreover, contract and other rights at law usually protect creditors, even (especially) when a firm is distressed. It …
Directors' Duties In Failing Firms, Kelli A. Alces, Larry E. Ribstein
Directors' Duties In Failing Firms, Kelli A. Alces, Larry E. Ribstein
Scholarly Publications
Despite many cases with seemingly contrary dicta, corporate directors of failing firms do not have special duties to creditors. This follows from the nature of fiduciary duties and the business judgment rule. Under the business judgment rule, the directors have broad discretion to decide what to do and in whose interests to act. There is some authority for a limited creditor right to sue on behalf of the corporation to enforce this duty. However, any such right does not make the duty one owed to creditors. The creditors individually may sue the corporation for breach of specific contractual, tort, and …