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01 April 2008 / Stephen Acton
Issue: 7319 / Categories: Features , Company , Constitutional law , Commercial
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A new direction?

Stephen Acton reports on changes to directors' duties

As will be familiar to all readers, directors owe duties to their companies. This has, since the early days of company law, been recognised by the courts as a necessary consequence of the creation of companies as artificial legal constructs, the consequent necessity for persons to manage them, and the potential for the separation in identity between owners of companies and those charged with directing their management. The Companies Act 2006 (CA 2006) has made statutory provision for these duties. What are the purposes of these provisions and what will be their effect?

 

Directors' Duties Prior to the Companies ACT 2006

Directors are sui generis, so far as English law is concerned, but the courts have fashioned and developed the duties which they owe to their companies by analogy with, and close reference to the duties owed by those whom they most closely resemble, in particular trustees and agents. This had

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Kennedys—Milan Devani

Kennedys—Milan Devani

Chief information officer appointment strengthens technology leadership

Maguire Family Law—Hannah Barlow & Sophie Hughes

Maguire Family Law—Hannah Barlow & Sophie Hughes

Firm strengthens Wilmslow team with two solicitor appointments

DWF—Ian Plumley

DWF—Ian Plumley

Londoninsurance and reinsurance practice announces partner appointment

NEWS
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Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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