Fiduciary Loyalty: Protecting the Due Performance of Non-Fiduciary Duties

Fiduciary Loyalty presents a comprehensive analysis of the nature and function of fiduciary duties, arguing that they provide a distinctive form of protection for non-fiduciary duties, by seeking to avoid influences or temptations which might distract the fiduciary from proper performance of those non-fiduciary duties. The book takes the novel approach of putting to one side the difficult question of when fiduciary duties arise in order to focus attention instead on what fiduciary duties do when they are owed. The analysis advanced in the book has both practical and theoretical implications for understanding fiduciary doctrine. Understanding the relationship between fiduciary and non-fiduciary duties also provides a solid foundation for addressing issues concerning compensatory remedies for their breach and potential defences such as contributory fault. The distinctive purpose that fiduciary duties serve also provides a firm theoretical basis for maintaining their separation from other forms of civil obligation, such as those that arise under the law of contracts and of torts. Awarded Second Prize in the SLS Peter Birks Competition for Outstanding Legal Scholarship 2010.