Swedes welcome plan to broaden LLPs

Swedish lawyers at the conference welcomed their government's plans to broaden the scope of limited liability partnerships (LLP).

Currently, the rules allow firms to operate as LLPs, but a clause in the country's Companies Act does not protect partners if the firm is sued for negligence.

President of the Swedish Bar Association Elisabet Fura-Sandstrom says: "The provision says that lawyers assume joint and several liability together with their firms, which leads to them being personally liable."

But now a Swedish government committee is calling for partners to be liable only for their interest in the firm - the amount they paid when they joined the partnership - if they were unaware of the firm's negligence.