1 If no express agreement has been made as to the division of the profit
and loss, an equal division of both is understood to be intended, but
if it has, such agreement ought to be carried into effect; and there
has never been any doubt as to the validity of a contract between two
partners that one shall take twothirds of the profit and bear twothirds
of the loss, and that the remaining third shall be taken and borne
respectively by the other.
2 If Titius and Seius agreed that the former should take twothirds of
the profits, and bear only onethird of the loss, and that the latter
should bear twothirds of the loss, and take only onethird of the
profits, it has been made a question whether such an agreement ought to
be held valid. Quintus Mucius thought such an arrangement contrary to
the very nature of partnership, and therefore not to be supported: but
Servius Sulpicius, whose opinion has prevailed, was of a different view,
because the services of a particular partner are often so valuable that
it is only just to admit him to the business on more favourable terms
than the rest. It is certain that a partnership may be formed on the
terms that one partner shall contribute all the capital, and that
the profits shall be divided equally, for a man's services are often
equivalent to capital. Indeed, the opinion of Quintus Mucius is now so
generally rejected, that it is admitted to be a valid contract that
a partner shall take a share of the profits, and bear no share in the
loss, which indeed Servius, consistently with his opinion, maintained
himself. This of course must be taken to mean that if there is a profit
on one transaction, and a loss on another, a balance should be struck,
and only the net profit be considered as profits.
3 It is quite clear that if the shares are expressed in one event only,
as for instance in the event of profit, but not in the event of loss, or
vice versa, the same proportions must be observed, in the event of which
no mention has been made, as in the other.
4 The continuance of partnership depends on the continuing consent of
the members; it is dissolved by notice of withdrawal from any one of
them. But of course if the object of a partner in withdrawing from the
partnership is to fraudulently keep for himself some accruing gain--for
instance, if a partner in all goods succeeds to an inheritance, and
withdraws from the partnership in order to have exclusive possession
thereof--he will be compelled to divide this gain with his partners; but
what he gains undesignedly after withdrawing he keeps to himself, and
his partner always has the exclusive benefit of whatever accrues to him
after such withdrawal.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account