My client went bankrupt … can I sue its sole shareholder and director?

You provided services or sold property/goods to a company that is a new customer of your business. This new client is headed by a single shareholder, who is also its sole director.

You send one or more invoices to your new client, but unfortunately you cannot get paid.

One day, despite several reminders, you learn that the company went bankrupt.

You wonder if you automatically have a recourse against the single shareholder and sole director of your former client.

A recent decision confirms that the answer is no. Indeed, it is a well-established principle that the future insolvency of a legal person does not have the effect of rendering the sole shareholder / sole director responsible of a debt that he has not guaranteed. This is the principle of separate legal entities.

However, you must remember that in certain cases, particularly in the case of fraud, abuse of right, contravention of a rule of public order or separate extracontractual fault, it will then be possible to attempt to sue the sole shareholder and director.