legal environment of business chapter 16

entrepreneur

one who initiates & assumes the financial risk of a new business enterprise & undertakes to provide or control its management

sole proprietorship

the simpliest form of business organization, in which the owner is the business. the owner reports business income or his or her personal income tax return & is legally responsible for all debts & obligations incurred by the business

partnership

an agreement by 2 or more persons to carry on, as co-owners, a business for profit

pass-through entity

a business entity that has no tax liability. the entititys income is passed through to the owners, & they pay taxes on the income

information return

a tax return submitted by a partnership that reports the business income & losses. the partnership itself does not pay taxes on the income, but each partners share of the profit (whether distributed or not) is taxed as individual income to that partner

articles of partnership

a written agreement that sets forth each partners rights & obligations with respect to the partnership

partnership by estoppel

a partnership imposed by a court when nonpartners have held themselves out to be partners, or have allowed themselves to be held as partners, & others have detrimentally relied on their misrepresentations

charging order

in partnership law, an order granted by a court to a judgement that entitles the creditor to attach a partners interest in the partnership

joint liability

in partnership law, a doctrine under which a plaintiff must sue all of the partners as a group, but each partner can be held liable for the full amount

dissociation

the severance of the relationship between a partner & a partnership or between a member & a limited liability company

joint & several liability

in partnership law, a doctrine under which a plaintiff may sue all of the partners together (jointly) or one or more of the partners separately (severally, or individually)

buyout price

the amount payable to a partner on his or her dissociation from a partnership, based on the amount distributable to that partner if the firm were wound up on that date, & offset by any damages for wrongful dissociation

dissolution

the formal disbanding of a partnership, corporation, or other business entity. for instance, partnerships can be dissolved by acts of the partners, by operation of law, or by judicial decree

winding up

the 2nd of 2 stages in the termination of a partnership or corporation, in which the firms assets are collected, liquidates, & disributed, & liabilites are discharged

buy-sell agreement

in the context of partnerships, an express agreement made at the time of partnships formation of one or more of the partners to buy out the other or others should the situation warrant

franchise

any arrangement in which the owner of a trademark, trade name, or copyright licenses another to use that trademark, trade name, or copyright in the selling of goods or serivces

franchiee

one receiving a license to use anothers (the franchisors) trademark, trade name, or copyright in the sale of goods & services

franchisor

one licensing another (the franchisee) to use the owners trademark, trade name, or copyright in the selling or goods or services