Partnership Agreements

Whatever form of business partnership you are involved with, a well thought out and drafted partnership agreement is strongly recommended.

A partnership can be formed by express agreement but can also be implied by conduct and this is surprisingly common with very small businesses started informally where little consideration has been given to legal structure or risk.

If you are thinking of going into any type of business partnership, we can help with :-

• Ensuring you fully understand all the options and that some form of limited liability structure is almost always advisable.

• Drafting a partnership agreement – including farming partnerships, professional services, medical partnerships;

• Review and updating of any existing partnership agreement;

• Joint Ventures.

• Advising on partnership admission, withdrawal and dissolution.

• Partnership disputes especially where one partner or both have personal liability.

• Dissolution of a partnership

Key clauses in a partnership agreement

A partnership agreement sets out the relations between the parties, how profits and losses are shared, the partners’ respective duties and powers, how to deal with goodwill, restrictions on setting up competing businesses, who will do what, rights and restrictions, cross indemnities if one partner only gets pursued by a creditor where there is joint and several liability, holiday entitlements and many other items.

Importantly, the agreement will also provide for how partners can exit the partnership and what will happen if any new partners wish to join.

Equally, having a written agreement can also reduce the possibility of disputes because the partners will have negotiated and agreed the terms on which they operate at the outset.

Lawyers for a partnership agreement

For more information on how we can assist with protecting you and your business, please contact us.