Understanding the Types of Shareholder Lawsuits

Boards exist to protect shareholders based on the fiduciary duties of care, loyalty, and good faith. If shareholders feel that those duties have not been met by a board or board member, they can take legal action against them.

shareholder lawsuits

The “business judgment rule” protects boards and board members from lawsuits for simply making bad choices. As LegalMatch shares, “The business judgment rule requires that courts defer to the board of directors in business matters.

The only exception to the business judgment rule is if shareholders can show that the board of directors engaged in fraud, illegal activities, or were grossly negligent while managing the corporation.”

In other words, boards are afforded the right to make bad business choices as long as there is evidence they were acting in good faith. If there is a belief that the board or a board member has engaged in one of those wrongful practices, there are two options for types of shareholder lawsuits: a direct lawsuit (also called shareholder class action lawsuit) or a derivative lawsuit.
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Board Membership 101: Fiduciary Duties

Board Membership 101: Fiduciary Duties

The foundation of a board member’s service is their fiduciary duty to shareholders. Before we jump into what kinds of duties are involved, let’s look more closely at the word “fiduciary:”

fiduciary
(adjective): involving trust, especially with regard to the relationship between a trustee and a beneficiary.

It’s a word that we hear a lot in the corporate world, but its basic meaning often gets overlooked. Simply put, the word fiduciary is all about trust, and that’s exactly what’s required of directors under corporate governance law.

The Three Types of Fiduciary Duties:

  1. The Duty of Care

According to Investopedia, the duty of care “applies to the way the board makes decisions that affect the future of the business. The board has the duty to fully investigate all possible decisions and how they may impact the business. Because a company’s board of directors is tasked with making very important decisions, it is necessary that each member takes each issue seriously and adequately considers all options.”

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