Source: http://supreme.nolo.com/us/168/328/case.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 13:41:52+00:00

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Much of the argument for the appellant was devoted to a discussion of conflicting evidence, which is not open to examination by this Court, its authority upon appeal from the supreme court of a territory being limited to the question whether the facts found by that court support its judgment. Haws v. Victoria Co., 160 U. S. 303; Harrison v. Perea, ante, 168 U. S. 311.
The principal question of law discussed in the opinion of the supreme court of the territory, and at the argument in this Court, was whether a partnership which, by the co-partnership articles, is to continue for a specified time, can be dissolved by one partner at his own will, without the assent of the other, before the expiration of that time.
continue in force, does not endure for the life of the partners, or of either of them, nor for any longer time than their mutual consent, but may be dissolved by either partner at his own will at any time. Peacock v. Peacock, 16 Ves. 49; Crawshay v. Maule, 1 Swanst. 495; Neilson v. Iron Co., 11 App.Cas. 298; 3 Kent, Com.; Story on Partnership § 269.
Upon the question how far the status or relation of a partnership, which by the partnership agreement is to continue for a certain number of years, can be determined by one partner without the consent of the other before the expiration of that time there has been some difference of opinion.
The principal reasons and authorities in favor of the position that a contract of partnership for a definite time cannot be dissolved at the mere will of one partner are stated or referred to in the opinion of the supreme court of the territory in this case, reported in 9 Utah 236.
carry on its business without the mutual confidence and cooperation of all the partners. Even when, by the partnership articles, they have covenanted with each other that the partnership shall continue for a certain period, the partnership may be dissolved at any time at the will of any partner, so far as to put an end to the partnership relation and to the authority of each partner to act for all, but rendering the partner who breaks his covenant liable to an action at law for damages, as in other cases of breaches of contract. Skinner v. Dayton, 19 Johns. 513, 538; 3 Kent, Com. 54, 55, 62; Cape Sable Co.'s Case, 3 Bland 606, 674; Monroe v. Conner, 15 Me. 178, 180; Mason v. Connell, 1 Whart. 381, 388; Slemmer's Appeal, 58 Pa.St. 168, 176; Blake v. Dorgan, 1 Greene (Iowa) 537, 540; Solomon v. Kirkwood, 55 Mich. 256, 259-260. According to the authorities just cited, the only difference, so far as concerns the right of dissolution by one partner, between a partnership for an indefinite period and one for a specified term, is this: in the former case, the dissolution is no breach of the partnership agreement and affords the other partner no ground of complaint. In the latter case, such a dissolution before the expiration of the time stipulated is a breach of the agreement, and, as such, to be compensated in damages; but in either case, the action of one partner does actually dissolve the partnership.
165-167; Lindley on Partnership, bk. 3, c. 10, § 4; Pomeroy on Specific Performance § 290; Scott v. Rayment, L.R. 7 Eq. 112; Satterthwait v. Marshall, 4 Del.Ch. 337, 354; Reed v. Vidal, 5 Rich.Eq. 289; Somerby v. Buntin, 118 Mass. 279, 287. Especially where, by the partnership agreement, as in the case at bar, the defendant is to supply all or most of the capital and the plaintiff is to furnish his personal services, the agreement cannot be specifically enforced against the plaintiff, and will not be enforced against the defendant. Stocker v. Wedderburn, 3 K. & J. 393, 404; Buck v. Smith, 29 Mich. 165.
In the somewhat analogous case of a contract of hiring and service, it is well settled that a court of equity cannot compel the performance of the service, although it may in some cases enforce a negative stipulation not to serve any third person within the time agreed. Dietrichsen v. Cabburn, 2 Phil.Ch. 52, 59, and cases cited; Lumley v. Wagner, 1 D., M. & G. 604; Wolverhampton & Walsall Railway v. London & Northwestern Railway, L.R. 16 Eq. 433, 440; Whitwood Chemical Co. v. Hardman (1891), 2 Ch. 416; Davis v. Foreman (1894), 3 Ch. 654; 13 Law Quarterly Review 306; Tobey v. Bristol, 3 Story, 800, 824.
We are not prepared, therefore, to assent to the opinion of the court below that a partnership for a definite time cannot be dissolved by one partner at his own will, and without the consent of his co-partner, within that time, and consequently that the partnership between these parties was not dissolved on February 1, 1888, when the defendant assumed exclusive possession and control of the business and property of the partnership, and excluded the plaintiff from any participation therein. But it is unnecessary to express an opinion upon this point, because, however it might be decided, it would not affect the conclusion in favor of the plaintiff in the present case.
"However the question may be decided, whether one partner may by his own mere will dissolve a partnership formed for a definite purpose or period, it is clear that, upon such a dissolution one partner cannot appropriate to himself all the partnership assets, or turn over the share of his partner to another with whom he proposes to form a new partnership."
Pearce v. Ham, 113 U. S. 585, 113 U. S. 593.
A partner who assumes to dissolve the partnership before the end of the term agreed on in the partnership articles is liable, in an action at law against him by his co-partner for the breach of the agreement, to respond in damages for the value of the profits which the plaintiff would otherwise have received. Bagley v. Smith, 10 N.Y. 489; Dennis v. Maxfield, 10 Allen 138. In a court of equity, a partner who, after a dissolution of the partnership, carries on the business with the partnership property is liable, at the election of the other partner or his representative, to account for the profits thereof, subject to proper allowances. Ambler v. Whipple and Pearce v. Ham, above cited; Hartman v. Woehr, 3 C. E. Green (18 N.J.Eq.) 383; Freeman v. Freeman, 136 Mass. 260; Holmes v. Gilman, 138 N.Y. 369; 3 Kent, Com. 64.
partner might draw out not exceeding $125 a month for personal expenses. The profits and losses were to be shared equally, and neither partner was to have any other compensation for services, and their title in the partnership property was to be in proportion to their contributions to the capital.
By the facts found by the courts of the territory, it appears that the business was carried on according to the agreement for two years, or until February 1, 1888; that the defendant then took exclusive possession of the property and the business of the partnership, and thenceforth carried on the business profitably and for his own benefit, and excluded the plaintiff from any participation in the business or the profits, although the plaintiff was, as he informed the defendant, ready and willing to perform his part of the partnership agreement, and the defendant, on January 1, 1890, a year before the expiration of the term agreed on, and without the plaintiff's knowledge or assent, sold out and delivered to a stranger all the property of the partnership.
The judgment of the court of first instance charged the defendant with the amount of capital paid by the plaintiff into the partnership, deducting, however, the whole amount of the plaintiff's promissory note payable to the defendant at the end of the term of five years, and further charged the defendant with half of the net profits of the business during the two years that he carried it on, after ousting the plaintiff, and before selling out to a stranger, and with half of the wrongful disbursements of the defendant afterwards. The supreme court of the territory, affirming the judgment in other respects, held that as by the agreement of partnership, each partner was permitted to draw out a certain sum monthly for personal expenses, the defendant was entitled to such an allowance monthly for the two years during which he conducted the business, and the same should be deducted from the profits to be accounted for, and the judgment in favor of the plaintiff reduced accordingly. The court made no such allowance to the plaintiff, and, in accordance with the partnership articles, neither partner was allowed any compensation for his services other than his half of the profits.
It does not appear to have been suggested by the defendant in either of the courts of the territory, and could not successfully be contended, that, in estimating the damages or the profits which the plaintiff was entitled to recover, any deduction should be made by reason of his not having performed during those two years the services, as manager of the business, which he had agreed by the partnership articles to perform. No finding as to the value of such services was made or requested, and the defendant himself, not only refused to let the plaintiff, as he offered to do, perform them during those two years, but, in his answer and at the hearing before the referee, insisted that the plaintiff's services as manager were of no benefit to the partnership.
The result is that whether the partnership should or should not be considered to have been dissolved when the defendant ousted the plaintiff and assumed the exclusive possession and control of the property and business of the partnership, the defendant has shown no ground for reversing or modifying the final decree of the supreme court of the territory.
"Where the partnership is merely at will, the right of one partner to terminate it must be conceded; but where, by agreement, it is to continue for a time stipulated, the party seeking a dissolution before the expiration of the time ought, in justice at least be required to act in good faith, and at a reasonable time, and in a reasonable manner. In the case of a partnership for a stipulated time of duration, where the business has been established, is becoming profitable, and has good future prospects, to allow one of the partners sua sponte to expel the other, and dissolve the partnership with a view to appropriate the business to himself would be to adopt a doctrine at once inequitable and unsupported by either reason or justice. There seems to be no good reason why a person should be allowed to commit a breach of his contract in such case, while in all other cases of flagrant violation not within the partnership he would be compelled to specifically perform if it was within his power to do so. Why should a partner be thus allowed to ruin the business of the firm from mere caprice, or of his own volition, without cause, and in violation of his agreement, and sacrifice the entire object of the partnership? That such a violation may entitle the injured partner to damages is no answer, for damages, in many cases, must necessarily prove to be utterly inadequate to compensate for the destruction of a profitable and growing business, and besides, this mode of redress is usually slow and unsatisfactory, and is not a remedy that will or can do complete justice between the parties. Where there is such a breach between the partners as to render continuance impossible, or when dissension has dispelled the hopes, prospects, and advantages which induced its formation, or if, for any just cause, the partnership ought to be dissolved before the expiration of the term, then a court of equity is competent to grant relief. But it would scarcely seem to come within the principles of justice to permit one partner to expel another from a profitable business for some real or fancied wrong or mismanagement, and then continue the business himself, and profit by his own wrong, responsible only in damages."
"Mr. Justice Story, in his Commentaries on the Law of Partnership, § 275, speaking of the power of one partner to dissolve the partnership where the time of duration is stipulated, says:"
"In cases where the partnership is, by the agreement, to endure for a limited period of time, the question whether it may within the period be dissolved by the mere act or will of one of the partners, without the consent of all the others, does not seem to be absolutely and definitely settled in our jurisprudence, although it would not seem, upon principle, to admit of any real doubt or difficulty. Whenever a stipulation is positively made that the partnership shall endure for a fixed period, or for a particular adventure or voyage, it would seem to be at once inequitable and injurious to permit any partner at his mere pleasure to violate his engagement, and thereby to jeopard, if not sacrifice, the whole objects of the partnership; for the success of the whole undertaking may depend upon the due accomplishment of the adventure or voyage, or the entire time be required to put the partnership into beneficial operation."
"In Gerard v. Gateau, 84 Ill. 121, Mr. Justice Scott, delivering the opinion of he court, said:"
"A party who is the author of the ill feeling between himself and partners ought not to be permitted to make the relation he has induced the ground of a dissolution of the partnership. His conduct may have been taken with a view to that very result, and it would be inequitable to allow him advantage from his own wrongful acts. It would allow one partner, at his election, to put an end to his own deliberate contract when the other has been guilty of no wrongful act or omission of duty. The results flowing from a premature dissolution of a partnership might be most disastrous to a partner who had embarked his capital in the enterprise."
"So, in Henn v. Walsh, 2 Edw.Ch. 129, the Vice-Chancellor said:"
"A partnership agreement, like any other, is binding upon the parties, and they must adhere to its terms. Neither partner is at liberty to recede from it against the will of the other without a sufficient cause. Mere dissatisfaction by one partner will not justify him in filing a bill for a dissolution where, by the express agreement, it is to continue for a definite term, and this Court will not interfere to dissolve the contract upon such ground."
"The views thus expressed have the apparent support of most elementary writers, and seem to be in conformity with the doctrine prevailing in England. The contrary doctrine, if not indefensible, is founded on reasons exceedingly artificial. It is based on the ground that one partner has the right to found his claim, real or otherwise, to immediate safety and indemnity, on an obvious injury to the interests and rights of another, which is alike inequitable and unjust, and we think it is not supported by the weight of authority. Story on Partnership, §§ 275, 276; Story, Eq.Jur. § 673; Lindley on Partnership [bk. 4, c. 1, (5th ed.)] p. 575, § 2; Ferrero v. Buhlmeyer, 34 How.Pract. 33; Pearpoint v. Graham, 4 Wash. C.C. 232; Peacock v. Peacock, 16 Ves. 49; Cash v. Earnshaw, 66 Ill. 402; Van Kuren v. Trenton Co., 13 N.J.Eq. 302."

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