Whether a relationship is one of simple agency, a partnership arrangement, or the more complex relationships among owners, directors and managers in corporations, there exist, to one degree or another, fiduciary responsibilities that parties owe to each other. The existence and enforcement of fiduciary duties are necessary for the efficient and effective operation of businesses. Fiduciary duties might be appropriately described as the lubricants that make a business run within an ethical framework.

1. How do fiduciary duties operate similarly, and how do they differ, among the different organizational forms?
2. What are the seminal cases that defined/addressed/interpreted fiduciary duties in each organizational form? Do you agree with the court's reasoning and decisions in these cases? Why or why not?
3. With respect to corporations, frame your discussion within the development of the business judgment rule. Should courts play a larger role in evaluating actions of a board of directors, or should they defer to boards absent an obvious conflict of interest or clear abuse of discretion? Does knowledge by a board that all of their actions are subject to judicial review after the fact make them more effective, or does it inhibit risk taking that they deem to be potentially beneficial to the value of owners' stock?