Have you heard the fairy tale about the director who, when a company goes bankrupt, becomes guilty of everything, to everyone, always?

The Court of Appeal of Lithuania upheld the arguments we had put forward in the regional court. The claim sought damages from many of the company's directors, shareholders and board members. And according to the claimant, the damage was considerable – more than EUR 230,000.
In our client's case it was argued that he was simply to blame for signing a transaction and must bear the resulting damage to creditors. However, people in business know that every director is responsible only for his or her own period of management. A transaction approved by one director does not automatically mean that a new director cannot terminate its performance if he or she clearly sees that the transaction brings little benefit or even more harm to the company.
Directors' and shareholders' liability is one of the main areas of our practice. We know the business environment well and understand who and what can affect a director's liability one way or another, and why. We know how important it is to convey this knowledge to the court hearing the case. Every case is absolutely unique in terms of proof: different business management models, different decisions taken by directors and, ultimately, different transactions and completely different factual and legal circumstances of the dispute. Knowing what the client's business lives and breathes every day is today just as important as the representative's practical experience in bankruptcy cases. When it comes to imposing legal liability on directors, the current situation is that attempts are made to prove that a director must bear personal liability for practically everything. But that is not right. When deciding on a director's liability, that person's unlawful act or omission, insofar as it relates to a breach of his or her duties, and the damage flowing specifically from that person's unlawful conduct, must be established individually.

We believe that in future the case law will develop precisely so that directors and shareholders are not afraid to start a new business after an unsuccessful one has ended in bankruptcy…