A law firm, organized as a general partnership, signed a ten-year lease for office property with Sheehan, who was a partner in the law firm.
Sheehan withdrew from the law firm and assigned his partnership interest to the remaining partners. Nothing was done at that time to change the lease of the office property. Five years later, the law firm defaulted on the lease and filed for bankruptcy. Sheehan sued all past and present law firm partners for past due rent and other damages from the default on the lease. The trial court held that the personal assets of the original partners who signed the lease were not at stake, only the assets of the bankrupt partnership and that none of the later joining partners were liable. Is that correct?
[8182 Maryland Assoc. L.P. v. Sheehan, 14 S. W.3d 576, Sup. Ct., Mo. (2000)]