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The Oxford Handbook of Fiduciary Law

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Black’s Law Dictionary defines a fiduciary relationship as a “relationship in which one person is under a duty to act for the benefit of another on matters within the scope of the relationship.” If that sounds like it covers a lot of ground, that’s because it does. Fiduciary relationships arise in a number of legal contexts, including family law, corporate law, banking, trusts, employment law, international law, and more. It is only recently, however, that legal scholars have begun to address fiduciary law as a field unto itself.  

The Oxford Handbook of Fiduciary Law provides a survey of this burgeoning field. The book’s purpose, as the editors write in their introduction, “is to furnish a single source to which readers can turn for guidance on fiduciary principles across a host of substantive fields, jurisdictions, and epochs.” The book is divided into four parts. The first part examines the various doctrinal areas in which fiduciary principles arise. (The University of Houston’s own Teddy Rave has contributed a chapter here, in which he discusses the fiduciary nature of state authority.) The second part attempts to provide a conceptual synthesis of the fiduciary principles that all of these doctrines have in common. The third part examines the role of fiduciary law across history and in different legal systems. Finally, the fourth part looks ahead to the future of fiduciary law and theory.  

The Oxford Handbook of Fiduciary Law will be immensely valuable to anyone interested in this critical area of the law. It is currently available on the New Books shelf at the O’Quinn Law Library.  

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