A partnership is built on the relationship between its partners and how they deal with the outside world. When a solicitor advises a firm, the first questions are usually practical: who can decide what, when does a single partner's act commit everyone, and what happens to liability when a partner leaves? The answers come partly from the partnership agreement and partly from default rules that fill any gaps — and getting them right protects both the firm and the people who deal with it.
This lesson walks you through that framework in order:
- Default Rights and Obligations of Partners — the baseline rules on management, pay, and indemnity that apply where the agreement is silent.
- How Are Decisions Made? — which decisions need a simple majority and which need every partner's consent.
- Expulsion, Exclusion and Fiduciary Duties — when a partner can (and cannot) be removed, and the duties partners owe each other.
- Partners as Agents and Binding the Firm — how one partner's dealings with third parties commit the whole firm.
- Holding Out and Liability of Outgoing Partners — how liability attaches through appearances, and the notice a retiring partner needs to escape future debts.