The purpose of incorporating is to separate the identity of the corporation from its officers, directors and shareholders, and thereby limit liability to the money at risk for the enterprise. If the corporate proprieties have been observed it is extremely difficult to pierce the corporate veil. In those instances in which there have been  successful piercings,  it was usually due to failure to observe the corporate formalities. In effect there was no separation of the identities, and the corporation existed in name only. The corporation  was a sham without substance. I would invite you to read the case law on the subject rather than relying on Google.

Examples of failure to observe corporate formalities include co-mingling of corporate and personal funds of officers/directors in a common bank account,  failure to keep adequate corporate records documenting the corporate resolutions and failure to hold and document meetings of the boards of directors and shareholders.

Fraud is a silver bullet to any transaction including the incorporation process, rendering the transaction void or voidable ab initio.

If the proper corporate formalities and proprieties have been observed, it is almost impossible to pierce the corporate veil. The corporation provides excellent protection for its intended purpose when it is properly invoked.

There really is no need to pierce the corporate veil. There are too many other ways of successfully suing corporate officers/directors without having to go to the added trouble of piercing the corporate veil...mostly resulting from the failure of the officers/directors to do what is necessary to raise the protection of the corporate shield initially. The problem is not with the protection provided by the corporation, but rather the laziness and/or stupidity of the officers/directors in their observance of corporate procedure. If they observe procedure, they are protected. When they deviate from the procedures, they lose the protection of the corporation. The problem is not any weakness in the corporate shield, but rather a failure of the individual to invoke it properly.

I suspect that this may be why LLC's have become popular in recent years. There are fewer internal proprieties to observe other than those required by an operating agreement or statute

 

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