Legal Theory and Concepts
Introductory
Duty
A legal position in which one person is required to act or refrain from acting for the benefit of another person's claim-right.
Why It Matters
Duty language is common in fiduciary law, securities disclosure, banking supervision, and contract. Hohfeld's point is that a duty should be tied to the specific person or institution holding the correlative claim-right.
Selected Literature
A short list of directly relevant archive entries.
1913
Introductory
Some Fundamental Legal Conceptions as Applied in Judicial Reasoning
Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld
Yale Law Journal
1917
Introductory
Fundamental Legal Conceptions as Applied in Judicial Reasoning
Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld
Yale Law Journal
Related Cases
1997
Securities Regulation
United States v. O'Hagan
521 U.S. 642 (1997)
Misappropriation theory of insider trading and tender-offer fraud rules.
1928
Foundations of Law and Economics
Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co.
248 N.Y. 339, 162 N.E. 99 (1928)
Duty, foreseeability, and the legal boundary placed on liability for an extended chain of accidental harm.
1939
Corporate Law
Guth v. Loft, Inc.
5 A.2d 503 (Del. 1939)
Duty of loyalty and a corporate officer's appropriation of an opportunity connected to the corporation's business and resources.
1963
Securities Regulation
SEC v. Capital Gains Research Bureau, Inc.
375 U.S. 180 (1963)
Whether an investment adviser's undisclosed practice of trading before and after its recommendations could be enjoined under the Investment Advisers Act.