Robert Hillman, of UC-Davis (King Hall), who's written the definitive treatment on "Lawyer Mobility: The Law and Ethics of Partner Withdrawals and Law Firm Breakups," has a new article posted to SSRN, Law, Culture and the Lore of Partnership: Of Entrepreneurs, Accountability, and the Evolving Status of Partners, with this abstract (nod to Legal Theory Blog):
In important respects, contemporary partnerships are modifying the associational form under which they operate in ways that represent clear departures from the classic partnership model. This article explores the mystique of partnership, the role of partnership in our culture, and how partnership law has evolved to encourage the structuring of relationships that bear little resemblance to the partnership model on which the law was developed (e.g., nonequity partners in professional services firms). It considers the implications of this change and questions whether long-standing assumptions concerning what it means to be a partner continue to hold.