Are you concerned about the breach of a business fiduciary duty in San Diego?  Under California law, a fiduciary relationship is often explained to juries as “any relation existing between the parties to a transaction wherein one of the parties is in duty bound to act with the utmost faith or the benefit of the other party.”  A fiduciary duty begins from the moment the beneficiary places their confidence in the fiduciary. If you have been accused of a breach of fiduciary duty or are the victim of the wrongful actions of a fiduciary you need experienced, proven business litigation attorneys.

Legally speaking from a general point of view, a business fiduciary duty in San Diego begins when a fiduciary takes an action on behalf of or for the benefit of the beneficiary, or upon entering into an official relationship which legally imposes a fiduciary relationship such as a relationship between a corporation and their shareholders.  This extends to corporate officers such as the President or CEO, CFO or any other “C” level player, as well as Directors of a corporation.

Fiduciary duties are typically categorized as a duty of obedience, loyalty, care, good faith and fair dealing as well as disclosure.  Fiduciaries are required by California law to put the interests of their beneficiary (the corporation) above their personal or outside business interests.  Fiduciaries must exercise prudence in their actions and in some cases inaction.  Fiduciaries must act in an honest fashion, with fairness and good faith in all their actions and duties.  Fiduciaries also have a duty to disclose any potential conflicts of interest and make “full and fair” representations of material facts associated with transactions, mergers and/or acquisitions.

What is the exposure for a breach of a fiduciary duty?  The breach of a business fiduciary duty in San Diego can result in a legal action seeking financial damages for direct and indirect losses and expenses as well as legal fees.  The legal process may also seek the removal of the fiduciary or the loss of any associated license or accreditation.

Pro-Tip: “A fiduciary duty begins in several different ways. One, the legislature defines when there’s a fiduciary duty in trust and estates, there’s a fiduciary in banking. It’s in the law, there is a fiduciary and it’s then redefined. And there’s legislative intent defining what they have meant. And then there’s courts defining what they meant and courts of appeals and so on and so forth. So it’s a very important concept and it changes as things happen in our society. So it doesn’t necessarily have to be written in a contract, explained and say, okay, I’m starting now. It’s an implied fact. This is the nature of this relationship. 

A fiduciary is supposed to act openly, honestly, and fairly. They’re supposed to put the beneficiary’s interest above their own, and they’re supposed to never self-deal,

Act in good faith.  Basically, not take money from your fiduciary client that they don’t know you’re taking,

First of all, you have to prove there was a fiduciary re relationship. And as I told you over the years, these change, so don’t automatically think there isn’t one. And don’t automatically think there is because it goes a lot of different ways. The courts in the legislature tend to define these over in, in different ways from decade to decade. Second, you’ve got to prove that they breached it in a material way. So you’ve got to say, look, they basically stole money from me and I didn’t know it.

And the third is that you’ve got to have the damages in a fiduciary relationship. However, unlike most causes of action, you can sue somebody for breach of fiduciary duty, with what we call nominal damages, because sometimes you can be hurt by a fiduciary and it won’t be a financial hurt. It’ll be something you want to get an injunction to put a stop to…” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

Are you concerned about a business breach of fiduciary duty in California?  We invite you to review our podcast Episode 17 – Violation or Breach of Fiduciary Duty as well as the strong recommendations of our clients and contact the Watkins Firm or call 858-535-1511 for a complimentary consultation today.