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The Corporate Veil: The Corporation as a Legal Entity

19 January, 2016 - 16:39

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  1. Know what rights a corporate “person” and a natural person have in common.
  2. Recognize when a corporate “veil” is pierced and shareholder liability is imposed.
  3. Identify other instances when a shareholder will be held personally liable.

In comparing partnerships and corporations, there is one additional factor that ordinarily tips the balance in favor of incorporating: the corporation is a legal entity in its own right, one that can provide a “veil” that protects its shareholders from personal liability.

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Figure 25.1 The Corporate Veil 
 

This crucial factor accounts for the development of much of corporate law. Unlike the individual actor in the legal system, the corporation is difficult to deal with in conventional legal terms. The business of the sole proprietor and the sole proprietor herself are one and the same. When a sole proprietor makes a decision, she risks her own capital. When the managers of a corporation take a corporate action, they are risking the capital of others—the shareholders. Thus accountability is a major theme in the system of law constructed to cope with legal entities other than natural persons.