The shredding of documents alone would not make all of Andersen's partners liable, lawyers and law professors said.
"At the time we sued them," Mr. Hartley said, "it was a partnership, they didn't have the L.L.P. shield, so theoretically every partner was as liable as every other partner".
Under the old form, each partner was liable for all acts by all partners, a powerful incentive to enforce compliance with the law.
"Just like in a corporation, the partners are liable for the things that they themselves do wrong," he said.
Because Long-Term Capital was a partnership, the fund's 12 partners are liable for the total tax bill, which is calculated according to their individual stakes in the fund.
Only six other states have a "take back" provision similar to California's, but beware: If the LLP is registered in the state, all partners are liable if they take distributions while the partnership is insolvent regardless of residence or where they practice.
Before the 1980s, many investment banks were organized as general partnerships, with each partner's capital tied up in the partnership and each partner personally liable for debts the partnership incurred.
Partners need no longer be fully liable, and firms can have as many partners as they want.
Because partners were personally liable, they had an interest in keeping their firm on a manageable scale and making sure their employees told them of any risks.
Although Twitter has shown itself up to now to be a very developer-friendly player in the patent space, it is salvos like IBM's that may prove to test that resolve, especially as Twitter continues to evolve its service and move into new areas — a point it also makes, adding that right now it's also potentially liable for claims against its partners and customers, too.
