You have thrown off the outdated shackles of partnership and now face the future as a brand new limited liability partnership (LLP). You have prepared and signed up to an LLP agreement, combining the best provisions from your old partnership agreement with corporate-style management and additional powers. What could possibly go wrong?
The vehicle may have changed, but sadly, human nature has not. In my experience, one of the enduring vices of law firms over the years has been an inability or unwillingness on the part of partners to adhere to the terms of their agreement, particularly those in management positions. Instances of non-existent powers being assumed by management are legion. It would be naive to imagine that LLP conversion would diminish this tendency, and if anything, the more corporate ethos engendered by the LLP has encouraged management to assume that they can exercise more rather than less control over members.
