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May a Minor Be a Partner?

Logo for Avvo, where Dana Shultz answered a question about: May a minor be a partner in a partnership?This post answers the following question: May a minor be a partner (in a partnership legal entity)? It is based on my answer to an Avvo question. Please see In California, can a minor be a partner in a General Partnership?

As initially written, this answer applied solely to California. However, an update, below, discusses applicability to other states. (more…)

Can a Partnership Have Just One Partner?

Picture of courthouse

This post’s title question about a one-partner partnership might seem silly: The common-sense answer is “No”, because one cannot be one’s own partner. As I learned recently working with a client who wants to dissolve a partnership, this is one situation where the law (in California, at least) and common sense agree.

To start, Corporations Code Section 16101(9) states that a partnership requires two or more partners.

Last year, in Corrales v. Corrales, the Court of Appeal for the Fourth District, Division 3 (courthouse pictured) answered an interesting question: What happens to a two-person partnership when one partner withdraws?

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Implied Copyright License: A Life-and-Death Example

Seal of the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which decided an implied copyright license caseSeveral months ago, I wrote about the circumstances under which courts will find an implied copyright license if there has not been an assignment of copyright. (If You Don’t Set the Terms of a Copyright License, a Court Will) In a recent case (Estate of Hevia v. Portrio Corp.), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that there was an implied copyright license in a partnership context.

The decedent, Roberto Hevia-Acosta, was an architect. Following his death, his estate and heirs waged an intensive legal battle against his business partner over copyrights in the decedent’s architectural designs.

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