Claim for Payment by Withdrawing Partner Against the Partnership
Papatriantafyllou & Thanasenari has once again reaffirmed its commitment to providing specialized legal services. Specifically, we successfully obtained a judgment for payment in favor of our client, a withdrawing general partner, against the partnership and his co-partner. The case involved recourse claims by our client against the partnership and his co-partner, specifically concerning a partnership debt that our client was forced to cover using his own funds.
Case Background
Our client was a general partner in a business that had issued cheques without his knowledge and without sufficient funds to cover them. As a general partner, in order to avoid legal consequences and enforcement actions against him, he settled the debt by paying the amount of the cheques using his own funds. However, the physical cheques were inadvertently not handed over to him, but instead were given to his co-partner, who refused to return them.
After his withdrawal from the partnership, he pursued a legal action for compensation, as the debt was solely a partnership liability.
Legal Approach & Judgment for Payment
The court accepted our arguments, recognizing that a partner who discharges partnership debts is entitled to seek indemnity from the partnership for the full amount paid. This aligns with the principle of separation of partnership assets and the fact that the debt is fundamentally a partnership obligation.
Additionally, the court held that the absence of the original cheques did not prevent the issuance of a judgment for payment, as the claim was fully supported by a combination of documentary evidence (copies of cheques, transaction receipts, accounting records, etc.), thereby meeting all the requirements for a valid claim.
The judgment for payment secured our client’s right to immediate recovery of the funds, thus avoiding the delays typically associated with filing and litigating a civil claim. Additionally, our client was immediately able to garnish the bank accounts of the debtors.
Significance of the Judgment for Payment
The issuance of the judgment for payment provided several benefits:
- Immediate protection of our client’s financial interests.
- Immediate judicial relief for our client, as the judgment is promptly issued.
- Immediate recovery of our client’s funds, as the judgment is enforceable under Greek civil procedure.