What is a Breach of Fiduciary Duty Lawsuit?
We have extensive experience in representing clients who have been involved in a breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit. A fiduciary duty is a duty arising from the trust reposited in one person, called a trustee, by another person, called a beneficiary. In California, as in most states, a fiduciary duty can arise in many different contexts. Certain types of relationships frequently create fiduciary duties. When faced with a fiduciary duty lawsuit, courts scrutinize all of the facts and circumstances to determine whether a fiduciary duty exists. Although the following list is not exhaustive, some of the more common relationships that give rise to a finding that a fiduciary duty exists are as follows.
- Trustee of a trust/trust beneficiary
- Attorney/client
- Partner/partner and partnership
- Corporate officer/corporation
- Limited liability company manager/limited liability company
There are many others.
A fiduciary has two main fiduciary obligations. The first is a duty of loyalty — the fiduciary may not prefer his or her own interests to those of the beneficiary. The other is the duty of care. A fiduciary must act as a reasonably careful person would act under the same or similar circumstances to safeguard the beneficiaries’ interests.
The failure of a fiduciary as to either the duty of loyalty or the duty of care may result in fiduciary duty litigation.
Representative Breach of Fiduciary Duty Lawsuits
We have represented beneficiaries against trustees in breach of fiduciary duty lawsuits resulting in lucrative settlements for clients. We have also represented trustees accused of breaching their duties in fiduciary duty lawsuits. Reprsentative cases include the following.
- Represented former employee in breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit in which former employee was accused of breach of fiduciary duty to former employer allegedly resulting in over $1,000,000 in damages. Obtained summary judgment in favor of former employee. Client paid nothing to the plaintiff.
- Represented professional corporation against former partner in breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit involving allegations of unfair competition. Settled matter on behalf of client.
- Represented catering company against former partner in breach of fiduciary duty litigation in state court; obtained lucrative settlement on behalf of client.
- Represented partner in breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit involving real estate transaction. Settled matter on behalf of client.
Of course, the results in the fiduciary duty lawsuits we have handled in the past were a function of the facts and circumstances of each of those cases, and past results are no guarantee of any results in any fiduciary duty lawsuit you may have. If you feel you may have a fiduciary duty lawsuit, please contact us to set up a free consultation.