D.C. Circuit Rejects Fiduciary Shield Doctrine, Holding Corporate Officials Can Be Subject To Personal Jurisdiction In Their Individual Capacities For Their Conduct As Corporate Officials

• Published date: 24 August 2020
• Subject Matter: Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Trials & Appeals & Compensation
• Law Firm: Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP
• Author: Mr Joel Kurtzberg, Adam S. Mintz and Changlan (Lucy) Xu

In the 1960s, courts recognized the fiduciary shield doctrine, which protects corporate officials sued in their individual capacities from being subjected to personal jurisdiction based on their conduct on behalf of the corporation. The doctrine was developed in part because courts perceived that it was "unfair to force an individual to defend a suit brought against him personally in a forum with which his only relevant contacts are acts performed not for his own benefit but for the benefit of his employer." Marine Midland Bank, N.A. v. Miller, 664 F.2d 899, 902 (2d Cir. 1981). The prevailing view at the time had been that the doctrine arises from the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

In 1984, the...