Article On The Relationship Between Contract And Fiduciary Obligations

Lionel Smith (Professor, King’s College London – The Dickson Poon School of Law) recently published an article entitled, Contract, Consent, and Fiduciary Relationships, P. Miller and A. Gold, eds., Contract, Status, and Fiduciary Law, Oxford, O.U.P., 2016, Forthcoming. Provided below is an abstract of the article:

What is the relationship between contract and fiduciary obligations? In this paper I aim to show that they are distinct juridical concepts. However, I will also explain what I understand to be the best understanding of the relationship between these two different concepts. They are distinct but overlapping. This is because fiduciary obligations arise when powers are held in a certain way. Such powers may come from a contract, which why the concepts overlap; but they may come from another source, which is why the concepts are distinct.