Posts tagged "duty of loyalty"

You may have heard about fiduciary duties, something about loyalty and care, but truth be known, you have no idea what that all means. Let’s set the scene. Your startup company is up and running. You have consulted with your startup lawyer  about forming the company as a limited liability company. What duties do you owe to those who have invested in the company. They are after all part owners and have invested their hard-earned money into your company. You talk with your startup lawyer and he or she explains that you owe the owners a fiduciary duty—fiduciary what, you ask? If you violate these fiduciary duties, you may be personally liable. Well, that should get your attention. This article discusses what a fiduciary duty is and who it is applied to.

There are several essential questions that you must discuss with your small business attorney before forming a limited liability company. You must determine the name of the company. You have to decide in which jurisdiction the startup company will be formed. You need to decide how the company will be treated for tax purposes. The focus of this article is the management structure of the LLC, whether the business be managed by its members or by one or more managers.