Aspects of Loyalty

Abstract

One of the many current controversies around fiduciary obligations is whether the duty of care and skill owed by a fiduciary is properly called a fiduciary duty. Another is what is the content of the fiduciary duty of good faith, and whether it stands apart from the duty of loyalty, or rather is merely an aspect of it. This paper builds on recent work that identifies loyalty as a legal requirement for fiduciary decision-making, which is not, however, a Hohfeldian duty. This understanding calls for further investigation into the other aspects of the legal implementation of loyalty. In relation to both the duty of care and the duty of good faith, the paper asks why it might matter whether such duties were fiduciary duties, or duties of loyalty, and how we can properly answer these questions. It concludes that there are several aspects to how the law implements loyalty.