DIRECTORS. Persons appointed or elected according to law, authorized to manage and direct the affairs of a corporation or company. The whole of the directors collectively form, the board of directors.
2. They are generally invested with certain powers by the acts of the legislature, to which they owe their existence.
3. In modern corporations, created by statutes, it is generally contemplated by the charter, that the business of the corporation shall be transacted exclusively by the directors. 2 Caines' R. 381. And the acts of such a board, evidenced by a legal vote, are as completely binding upon the corporation, and as complete authority to their agents, as the most solemn acts done under the corporate seal. 8 Wheat. R. 357, 8.
4. To make a legal board of directors, they must meet at a time when, and a place where, every other director has the opportunity of attending to consult and be consulted with; and there must be a sufficient number present to constitute a quorum. 3 L. R. 574; 13 L. R. 527; 6 L. R. 759. See 11 Mass. 288; 5 Litt. R. 45; 12 S. & R. 256; 1 Pet. S. C. R. 46. Vide Dane's Ab. h.t.
5. Directors of a corporation are trustees, and as such are required to use due diligence and attention to its concerns, and are bound to a faithful discharge of the duty which the situation imposes. They are liable to the stockholders whenever there has been gross negligence or fraud; but not for unintentional errors. 1 Edw. Ch. R. 513; 8 N. S. 80; 3. L. R. 576. See 4 Mann. & Gr. 552.