A fiduciary is someone who has undertaken to act for or on behalf of another (his principal). As such, a fiduciary owes an obligation of loyalty to the principal. Indeed, the principal relies on the fiduciary to act in his or her best interests, and is especially vulnerable to the fiduciary’s breach of duty. Thus, it has been observed that a fiduciary owes his or her principal the highest standard of duty known to the law. It is also well-established that a director of a company has a fiduciary relationship with the company.
A Modified Approach to Breach of Confidence: I-Admin (Singapore) Pte Ltd v Hong Ying Ting and others [2020] SGCA 32
Can an employer sue a former employee for the mere wrongful copying, abuse and exploitation of protected information, without also having to prove that the employee wrongfully used the information? This was the question before the Court of Appeal (“CA”) in I-Admin (Singapore) Pte Ltd v Hong Ying Ting and others [2020] SGCA 32.
Directors and their Two Hats: An Analysis of Sim Tee Meng v Haw Wan Sin David [2019] SGCA 71
Traditionally, directors are said to only owe a duty of care to their company. In certain circumstances however, directors may also owe a personal duty of care to their clients, thereby rendering the director personally liable to the client. In Sim Tee Meng v Haw Wan Sin David [2019] SGCA 71, the Court of Appeal applied the Spandeck framework in establishing whether a duty of care was owed by a key executive officer to the company's clients.
Ending a marriage in Singapore – divorce or annulment?
Ending a marital relationship is a major life decision, and it can be one that is stressful, emotional, and complicated. Should you be thinking of calling your marriage quits, you are not alone, and there are available avenues of the law you can turn to for your situation.
Am I allowed to defend myself if I am molested?
Imagine falling asleep on the bus home and waking up to find the stranger sitting next to you touching you inappropriately. How would you react? Would you push him away or hit him in self-defence? The number of molestation cases have recently been on the rise.
Collaboration with the Supreme Court
In a collaboration with the Supreme Court, SMU Law students (under SMU Lexicon) are reporting on selected Court of Appeal judgments, highlighting the significant points, so as to foster greater public awareness of these cases and their implications. The summaries are available on the Supreme Court of Singapore Website, and are reproduced here on SMU Lexicon's website as well.
Do Algorithms Dream of Mistaken Contracts? Quoine Pte Ltd v B2C2 Ltd [2020] SGCA(I) 2
Can an agreement which is formed purely through the operation of algorithms be considered a binding contract? If so, can such a contract be unilaterally cancelled because of a mistake, where such mistake resulted in trades being concluded at 250 times the market rate?
The aftermath of divorce: maintenance and child support
For better or for worse, divorce is increasingly common today. Yet, a divorce does not represent the clean break that one might hope for. Your financial life may still be connected to your spouse’s even after divorce.
What if you didn’t write it down? Verbal promises in business contracts
Business negotiations can be lengthy. In the course of negotiations, parties might make a verbal promise to do or not do something. There might also be emails recording the promise or showing that there were verbal negotiations. But if the promise does not end up in a written contract, can you hold the other party to it?
What You Should Know Before Signing That Letter of Guarantee
Written by: Ian Chiang* I. Introduction With COVID-19 hitting the economy hard, many smaller businesses and employees are struggling to stay afloat. Someone you know, such as your friends or relatives, could be looking for loans to tide them through this period. If so, they may ask you to sign a letter of guarantee. What … Continue reading What You Should Know Before Signing That Letter of Guarantee
