The business judgment rule is a case-law-derived doctrine in corporations law that courts defer to the business judgment of corporate executives. It is rooted in the principle that the "directors of a corporation ... are clothed with [the] presumption, which the law accords to them, of being [motivated] in their conduct by a bona fides regard for the interests of the corporation whose affairs the stockholders have committed to their charge."[1] The rule exists in some form in most common law countries, including the United States,[1] Canada,[2] England and Wales,[3] and Australia.[4]
To challenge the actions of a corporation's board of directors, a plaintiff assumes "the burden of providing evidence that directors, in reaching their challenged decision, breached any one of the triads of their fiduciary duty — good faith, loyalty, or due care."[5] Failing to do so, a plaintiff "is not entitled to any remedy unless the transaction constitutes waste ... [that is,] the exchange was so one-sided that no business person of ordinary, sound judgment could conclude that the corporation has received adequate consideration."[6]