The Case Of Salomon V A Salomon And Co Ltd Essay

Some of the benefits of a Limited Liability Company are that as a Limited Liability Company it limits the owner of personal liability for business actions. The members are liable, but normally just to the amount of their share in the business. Their individual assets are not considered for resolving business debts. The fact that your personal assets are protected is a great benefit. Whereas, operating under a partnership all members are individually accountable for the company’s debt. In comparing the differences between a

Limited liability means it does not exceed the amount invested in a partnership or limited liability company. The limited liability feature is one of the biggest advantages of investing in publicly listed companies. While a shareholder can participate wholly in the growth of a company, his or her liability is restricted to the

This essay will explain the concepts of separate personality and limited liability and their significance in company law. The principle of separate personality is defined in the Companies Act 2006(CA) ; “subscribers to the memorandum, together with such other persons as may from time to time become members of the company are a body corporate by the name contained in memorandum.” This essentially means that a company is a separate legal personality to its members and therefore can itself be sued and enter into contracts. This theory was birthed into company law through the case of Salomon v Salomon and Co LTD 1872. This case involved a company entering liquidation and the unsecured creditors not being able to claim assets to compensate them. The issue in this case was whether Mr Salomon owed the money or the company did. In the end, the House of Lords held that the company was not an agent of Mr Salomon and so the debts were that of the company thus creating the “corporate Veil” .

“Morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless” (Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love, 1963). These words of Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks volume to the society that we find ourselves. It is very rare to come across business owners like Frank who wants to do what is right; first of all, by God and secondly by the laws of the country. According to Henry Cheeseman, a limited liability company is an “unincorporated business entity that combines the most favorable attributes of general partnerships, limited partnership, and corporations” (Business Law: Legal Environment Online Commerce, Business Ethics, and International Issue). The overall advantages of a limited liability company include personal liability protection, business liability protection, no ownership restrictions, flexible tax statues, no separate tax returns, no double taxation and flexible profit distribution.

Limited liability companies are owners that are not liable for claims against their firm. They may lose their investment in the company, but not their personal assets.

A limited liability company is a creature of state law. Prior to the late 1970s, it had never been a choice for businesses because it didn't exist. In the late 1970s, the State of Wyoming passed an act creating it. It took another ten years or so before other states caught on. Once they did, the mad rush was on to pass legislation allowing for the creation of LLCs in nearly all states. The world of business entities had been changed forever.

Limited liability. An LLC shields its members from incurring liability for the business debts and obligations of the other members. The limited liability protection afforded by an LLC is a significant advantage over a general a partnership structure, which does not shield its partners from the liabilities of fellow partners in the event of a partner’s default or exit from the partnership

Choosing a Corporation/Company Structure - the business structure of a company/ corporation is highly recommended, it has the flexibility to gain more capital, or credit capability and assets used as security. Based on the Corporation Act 2001 (Cth) AC 22, a corporation is another legal entity with their own legal rights, duties and responsibilities separate to the individual or owner of the company (Harris, Hargovan & Adams, 2013, pp 229). The risk and consequences are one of the principal considerations of choosing a company structure (Harris, Hargovan & Adams, pp 50). Based on the “Corporate Veil” Liability is owned by a separate legal entity and not to the extent of the owner, for instance, the debt of the company is not a personal liability, but the company. This is further explained in the case below.

Due to limited liability, company creditors’ interests are not protected . Creditors need to bear the risks inherent when dealing with limited company. Shareholders are discouraged from monitoring and controlling the business due to the benefits of limited liability.

Rationale. The advent of the limited liability company in the 1990’s came about primarily to promote small business start-ups by providing substantial asset protection, simpler rules, and favorable state and local tax treatments (Millon, 2007; Riles & Whitlock, 2003: Vandervoort, 2004). LLCs are also typically easier and less expensive to form and manage than a corporation and quickly became the entity of choice (Hopson & Hopson, 2014).

From the beginning of the judicial history, the lawyers and judges have emphasized about how a corporation is an intangible legal entity alone without body or soul (Arthur and Machen, 1911). The doctrine of separate legal personality basically is about how a corporation and the owners were two different entity (Kelly, Hammer and Hendy, 2014). The Limited Liability Act which replaced by the Joint Stock Companies Act 1856, is where the members are only liable up to the amount that

Limited liability Company (LLC): Business’ owners are only subject to limited liability for company’s debts and actions. Owners will be only liable for their own mistakes or negligence that they may show in occasions.

When a company is incorporated it is treated as a separate legal entity distinct from its promoters, directors, members, and employees, which confers the benefit of not being responsible for the companies debt on the members on the company. However even though a company is a separate legal entity and it attains the advantage of not laying the responsibility of company’s debt on the

The decision of Salomon v. Salomon which brought about the doctrine of separate legal personality is one which has evolved over time. Over a century and still counting, the principle illustrated in Salomon, courts have are still reluctant in placing limitations on corporate personality and rejecting other approaches which pose as a greater challenge to the doctrine . From time immemorial, judicial history, lawyers and judges have reiterated that the doctrine of corporation is an intangible legal entity, without the body and soul. In Athanasian terms, the orthodox doctrine of corporation as a legal person, separate and distinct from the personality of the members who compose it, has been defined and propagated .

Corporation origin from the Latin word Corpus which means body. It is formed by a group of people and has separate rights and liability from those individual. In any means, corporation exists independently from its owner and this principle is called the doctrine of separate personality. Doctrine of separate personality is the basic and fundamental principle in a Company Law. This principle outline the legal relationship between company and its members. Company’s assets belong to the company not the shareholders as assets are the equity for creditors. Company must use up all its assets to pay off the creditors if it became insolvent. The same applies to the corporation’s debts. For limited liabilities company, the shareholder liability is limited which means that the shareholder is restricted to the number of shares they paid and not personally liable for the corporation’s debts. If the company does not have enough equity to pay off debts, the creditors cannot come after the shareholders. However, limited liability company can be very powerful when in hands who do fraud and on defeating creditors’ claims. Courts then can ignore the doctrine for exception cases and lifting the corporate veil. Lifting the corporate veil is a situation where courts put aside limited liability and hold a corporation’s shareholders or directors personally liable for the corporation’s debts.