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July 30, 2008

Comments on Ethan Leib's "Friends as Fiduciaries" Article

I am participating in the Fourth Annual Conglomerate Junior Scholars Workshop as a commenter on Ethan Leib's paper, Friends as Fiduciaries. The group discussion. My comments. The intro from my comments:

There can be a fine line between genius and insanity, and for some readers, Ethan Leib’s paper Friends as Fiduciaries may be right at that border. The paper argues that friends are being recognized as fiduciaries under existing law, an insightful observation that deserves the careful treatment it gets in the paper. The paper goes on to argue that the law should affirmatively designate some types of friends as fiduciaries because this will improve friendships—a provocative normative conclusion that, I think, some readers will reject no matter how persuasively it’s supported. In this respect, the paper reminded me a little of my conversations with my mom after she reads my papers that try to defend the indefensible (like spam and adware). She says in an affectionate but motherly way that the paper was nicely written but also has to be wrong. I can see some readers reaching the same conclusion here.

Posted by Eric at July 30, 2008 11:11 AM | Legal Industry , Life as a Law Professor

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