New Jersey Shareholder Litigation Tag Archives

The Benefits and Responsibilities of Ownership

Becoming the owner of a business has tremendous advantages: Owners can rise or fall based on their own merits, and when expenses are paid the remaining profits belong to the owners. However, there are also disadvantages, such as the risk that the business will lose money, and responsibility for the business’s payroll and debt. In addition to this stands business owners’ duties to their co-owners, be they partners in a partnership, shareholders in a corporation, or members in a limited liability company.

Under New Jersey business law, owners are placed in a special position of trust vis a vis their fellow owners, and the law thus imposes special responsibilities on them. These responsibilities are known as “fiduciary duties.”

thumbs-up-1198238__340-300x300 Our attorneys represents businesses and the people who own and run them. One source of significant conflict in New Jersey business law are the fiduciary duties of the directors, officers and owners of businesses.

New Jersey business law imposes fiduciary duties on a company’s directors and officers. This also applies to joint owners, including shareholders in corporations, partners in partnerships and members in limited liability companies (also known as “LLCs”). Essentially, under New Jersey law directors, officers and joint owners act as trustees to all of the business’s owners. They owe a duty of loyalty to the owners, including both the majority and minority owners. As effective trustees, they must place the interests of the owners ahead of their own. They also owe a fiduciary duty of care – they must exercise reasonable care in carrying out their duties.

Breach of these fiduciary duties open directors, officers and owners up to personal liability. They may be sued for violation of these duties if any of the owners allege that they suffered harm, financial or otherwise, because of a breach of these fiduciary duties.

Articles Tagged with New Jersey Shareholder Litigation

Fiduciary Duties: Rights and Obligations to Fellow Owners

Fiduciary Duties and the Business Judgment Rule: Bad Judgment Without Bad Faith Does Not Create Liability for Directors, Officers and Owners