The Fiduciary Obligation

A Theory of Fiduciary Liability – McGill Law Journal / Revue de droit de McGill – Érudit

An article from McGill Law Journal / Revue de droit de McGill, on Érudit.

The Critical Resource Theory of Fiduciary Duty

This Article proposes a new theory to unify the law of fiduciary duty. The prevailing view holds that fiduciary law is atomistic, arising for varied reasons in

Consumption, Debt, and Portfolio Choice: Testing the Effects of Bankruptcy Law

In the United States, consumer bankruptcy (Chapter 7 and Chapter 13) is designed to provide debtors a fresh start. Broadly speaking, after a household successfully files a bankruptcy petition, its unsecured debts are erased, but it must forfeit any assets above an exemption level determined by law. Laws regulating bankruptcy are a complex mix of state and federal rules. While the specific legal details are beyond the scope of this essay, in general, state laws set the exemption levels above which households forfeit assets; these range from exemptions as low as $75 to more than $100,000 (or, indeed, potentially unlimited levels).1

Mississippi public defenders could curb incarcerations - Mississippi Today

What Mississippi needs is a state-level public defender mandate establishing clear, enforceable standards that apply in every jurisdiction: standards for compensation and expenses, for workload, for when counsel first meets a client, for continuity of representation through all stages of a case.

Psychological Perspectives on Legitimacy and Legitimation

Legitimacy is a psychological property of an authority, institution, or social arrangement that leads those connected to it to believe that it is appropriate, proper, and just. Because of legitimacy, people feel that they ought to defer to decisions and rules, following them voluntarily out of obligation rather than out of fear of punishment or anticipation of reward. Being legitimate is important to the success of authorities, institutions, and institutional arrangements since it is difficult to exert influence over others based solely upon the possession and use of power. Being able to gain voluntary acquiescence from most people, most of the time, due to their sense of obligation increases effectiveness during periods of scarcity, crisis, and conflict. The concept of legitimacy has a long history within social thought and social psychology, and it has emerged as increasingly important within recent research on the dynamics of political, legal, and social systems.

Archival Selves

What happens when you pay off all your intention debts?

Adequate indigent defense should be a top priority

This past weekend, I published a story for The Commonwealth assessing Mississippi’s 23 circuit court districts’ indigent defense plans — that is how each of those courts provides lawyers to indigent, or poor, criminal defendants charged with a felony who can’t afford their own counsel.

ethics

By Devine Lu Linvega

Mississippi Courts Won’t Say How They Provide Lawyers for Poor Clients

Six years ago, the Mississippi Supreme Court told judges around the state to file plans showing how they meet their obligations to poor defendants. So far, only one has.

Radical Skepticism About Information Fiduciaries

Khan and Pozen are right to note the fundamental conflict between “information fiduciary” duties and shareholder interests. I only wish to add two further points in service of a radical skepticism towards the information fiduciary concept.

State of the Personal Insolvency System 2024-25

This report complements our annual report by providing a mid-year snapshot of the personal insolvency system administered by AFSA under the Bankruptcy Act 1966.

The Law Does Not Require Legalese

a reassuring dive into contract interpretation

Redistribution et justice sociale au cœur des « cahiers de doléances »

Attachement au travail, à l’impôt et aux services publics, peur de la pauvreté : six ans après le mouvement des gilets jaunes, des chercheurs ont analysé les c…

FinCEN Permanently Ends Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements for Millions of Small Business Owners

Will Delete Information Previously Reported by U.S. PersonsWASHINGTON––Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is issuing a final rule that permanently removes the requirement for U.S. companies and U.S. persons to report beneficial ownership information to FinCEN under the Corporate Transparency Act.  The final rule is effective on its publication in the Federal Register. FinCEN today also announced that it will delete previously reported information by U.S. persons—now exempt from the reporting requirements—from the beneficial ownership information database. “Today’s action is a victory for common sense and American small businesses,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “President Trump promised to cut red tape, and this final rule delivers. Treasury is eliminating a burdensome reporting requirement for millions of law-abiding business owners without compromising our national security.” The final rule:adopts the exemptions set out in the interim final rule issued in March 2025, making the rollback of beneficial ownership reporting by U.S. companies permanent;exempts U.S. persons who have obtained FinCEN IDs from any obligation to update or correct the information they originally provided to FinCEN to obtain their FinCEN IDs;eliminates the requirement for foreign companies to report U.S. person “company applicants” (i.e., the individuals who helped those foreign companies register to do business in the United States);exempts foreign pooled investment vehicles registered in the United States from reporting the beneficial ownership information of a U.S person in control of the investment vehicle; andconfirms that FinCEN will delete information about any individuals—company applicants, beneficial owners, or recipients of a FinCEN ID—that FinCEN reasonably believes is a U.S. person (e.g., the information is linked to a U.S. passport or U.S. driver’s license).Under the final rule, foreign entities that are reporting companies will still be required to report beneficial ownership information for foreign individuals. In addition to the final rule, FinCEN has issued Frequently Asked Questions, and will be updating guidance on FinCEN.gov to reflect the final rule. ###

Moral Incentives in Credit Card Debt Repayment: Evidence from a Field Experiment

We study the role of morality in debt repayment, using an experiment with the credit card customers of a large Islamic bank in Indonesia. In our main treatment, clients receive a text message stating that “non-repayment of debts by someone who is able to repay is an injustice.” This moral appeal decreases delinquency by 4.4 percentage points from a baseline of 66 percent and reduces default among customers with the highest ex ante credit risk. Additional treatments help benchmark the effects against direct financial incentives and rule out competing explanations, such as reminder effects, priming religion, and provision of new information.

All 12 Tips for Concision | LEGIBLE

Since July 2015 I’ve been sporadically posting a series of tips for concision in legal writing. I suggested a total of twelve, and links to all of them are collected here: