A partner, merely by being an owner of the business, has a right to manage the business of the partnership. He is an agent of the partnership and may make the partnership liable for contracts, torts, and crimes. Because partners are liable for all obligations of the partnership, in effect, each partner is an agent of the other partners. Each partner may hire agents, and every partner is liable for the agents' authorized contracts and for the liabilities that the agents incur in the course of their employments. A partnership is not an employer of the partners, for most purposes, as a result, for example, a partner who leaves a partnership is not entitled to unemployment benefits.
Partners are fiduciaries of the partnership.
They must act in the best interests of the partnership, not in their individual interests. The profits or losses of the business are shared by the partners, who report their shares of the profits or losses on their individual income tax returns, because the partnership does not pay income taxes. Nonetheless, a partnership does keep its own financial records and must file an information return with the Internal Revenue Service. A partnership may own property in its own name. A partnership usually may not sue or be sued in its own name.