California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Woods v. Pub. Logistics Inc., G042821 (Cal. App. 2011):
Woods did not allege a special or confidential relationship giving rise to a fiduciary duty. Friendship and trust are not sufficient to create a fiduciary duty. (Zumbrun v. University of Southern California (1972) 25 Cal.App.3d 1, 13 ["the mere placing of a trust in another person does not create a fiduciary relationship"].) Woods's amendment to his complaint alleged a contractual duty and "'the contractual right to contingent compensation in the control of another has never, by itself, been sufficient to create a
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fiduciary relationship where one would not otherwise exist.' [Citations.]" (Oilman v. Dalby (2009) 176 Cal.App.4th 606, 614; see also Wolf v. Superior Court (2003) 107 Cal.App.4th 25, 30-31.)
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