1. Overview of Fiduciary Relationships

We ought to call one province of the law “Affiliations,” or perhaps, “Relationships.” Contract law is one of its parts. Another is fiduciary duty – the law governing attorneys, trustees, guardians, corporate directors, and partners. Fiduciary duty delineates the way in such relationships arise and identifies the standards of conduct to which a fiduciary must conform, including requirements of loyalty, zeal, and self-sacrifice. A fundamental change in the jurisprudence and ethics of affiliations is underway, or at least several prominent writers are attempting to work such a change. An insurgent theory asserts that fiduciary relationships are really contractual in nature.[1]

* Fred Franke, Annapolis, Maryland, Copyright 2010
[1] Scott Fitzgibbon, “Fiduciary Relationships are not Contracts,” 82 Marq. L. Rev. 303 (1999).