An Examination of the Desirability or Otherwise of Limited Liability Partnerships Law Firms in Nigeria

Abstract

The recognised forms of doing business in Nigeria are sole proprietorship, partnership and companies. Legal practice is however restricted to sole proprietorships, sole practitionerships and partnerships thereby excluding companies registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act since the Legal Practitioners’ Act prohibits the doing of legal business as a Corporation. Limited liability partnerships which is acknowledged to be a hybrid of corporate personality and partnerships have been known to exist in advanced jurisdictions like the U.K and the U.S and even emerging markets in Asia especially in law and accounting practice. The aim of the article is to examine the basis for the existence of Limited Liability Partnerships in some of those jurisdictions particularly in legal practice with a view of discovering if a call for such mode of legal practice can be made in Nigeria.