What to do next
Establish that the relationship was fiduciary
Some relationships are fiduciary by category - director to corporation, trustee to beneficiary, lawyer to client. Others depend on the facts: discretion held over your interests, your vulnerability, and reasonable reliance on them to act in your interest.
Identify the specific breach
An undisclosed conflict, a diverted opportunity, self-dealing, secret profit, or use of confidential information for personal gain. Precision matters, because the remedy follows the nature of the breach.
Preserve the evidence before it disappears
Corporate records, board minutes, email, bank and accounting records, and any competing entity's filings. Where corporate opportunity or diversion is alleged, act quickly - electronic records are the first thing to go.
Consider urgent protective relief
Where assets may be dissipated or confidential information is being used, injunctive and preservation orders exist but require prompt action and clean evidence. Delay undermines the application as much as it undermines the evidence.
Understand what you can recover
Beyond damages, disgorgement of profits and a constructive trust over property acquired through the breach may be available. That is what makes framing the claim correctly worth doing at the outset.
Frequently asked questions
How is this different from breach of contract?
A fiduciary claim can require the wrongdoer to give up profits made from the breach even where your own loss is hard to prove, and can attach a trust to specific property. Contract remedies are generally compensatory only.
Does a business partner owe me a fiduciary duty?
Partners generally owe fiduciary duties to one another. Whether a particular business relationship is fiduciary depends on discretion, vulnerability and reliance - it is a fact-specific question.
What if it is my lawyer or accountant?
Professionals owe fiduciary duties to clients. A regulator complaint addresses conduct; recovering loss requires a civil claim, and the two run on independent deadlines.
Which lawyer handles this?
A commercial litigation lawyer, or an estate litigator where a trustee or executor is involved. These claims are evidence-intensive and time-sensitive.
This is general information, not legal advice. Laws vary by location and every situation is different — speak with a qualified lawyer about your specific circumstances.