Also known as: fidejussors · fidejussion · fidejubere · fidepromission · fidepromissor · surety · fidejussio
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A guarantor who binds himself to pay the debt of another. The obligation arises when the fidejussor undertakes secondary liability for the principal debtor's performance.
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Fusion Power's counsel prepared notes analyzing a fidejussor's secondary liability on a construction bond after litigation appeared likely. Frontier Capital sought those notes in discovery. The court denied the request because the materials were prepared in anticipation of litigation by a party's representative.
Freya Freeman, a fidejussor on a New York loan, faced suit in Montana after the principal defaulted. The court applied New York law to determine whether the fidejussor's obligation had been discharged by a later agreement between the creditor and principal.
Fumiko Fujimoto signed as fidejussor for a California insured. When the insurer refused a claim, the beneficiary sued Fujimoto in California. The court held that Fujimoto's single contact through the surety undertaking satisfied minimum contacts for personal jurisdiction.
Faith Fitzgerald acted as fidejussor on a bond guaranteeing a released defendant's appearance. After the defendant appeared, the court discharged the bond and released Fitzgerald from further liability under the surety undertaking.
Foxfire Biotech's fidejussor faced an antitrust suit alleging the surety arrangement restrained trade. The court applied federal law to the fidejussor's secondary obligation because the underlying conduct occurred in interstate commerce.
Felicity French posted a fidejussor bond in a contract dispute. After losing on appeal, the court imposed appellate attorney fees on French because the bond obligated her to answer for the principal's full liability including costs.
A fidejussor is the Roman-law term for a guarantor who undertakes to pay another's debt. Modern suretyship law treats the fidejussor as a secondary obligor entitled to the same defenses as a surety.
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A fidejussor is discharged when the creditor materially alters the principal obligation without consent or when the principal's duty is satisfied. The same suretyship defenses apply to the fidejussor.
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A fidejussor may be sued directly once the principal defaults, but the fidejussor retains the right to exoneration from the principal. The creditor need not exhaust remedies against the principal first.
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…history of the Fourteenth Amendment in its reliance on the "compelling state interest" test. See Weber v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co. , 406 U. S. 164, 179 (1972) (dissenting opinion). But the Court adds a new wrinkle to this test by transposing it from the legal considerations associated with the Equal Protection…