There are many LLP’s in the world. They have many advantages and disadvantages but still are manageable if operated correctly. Research an LLP and discuss its business and duties.
Limited liability partnerships (LLPs) are useful when the work being conducted is risky, and thus, dividing liability between partners is needed to ensure that the risk posed to each partner is limited. LLPs are most common for medical offices (e.g. doctor, dentist, or veterinarian), as well as law firms or real estate agencies. An example of an LLP is a small dental office run by two or more dentists. Each dentist invested equal amounts into the office, but if Dentist A commits an error and is fined, Dentists B and C are not liable for paying that fine. There’s actually a dental office called Dental Offices LLP and it’s been open since 1954 (linked below). Like any other dental office, this LLP provides several services in different specialties including general dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, and oral surgery. Although their website doesn’t go into detail about the roles of each dentist as a partner of the LLP, I assume that each of them own a certain percentage of the firm, and thus, are only liable for that percentage. Due to the disadvantages of LLPs (e.g. any partner can bind, dies when one partner dies, or is suspended, etc.), to my best knowledge, there aren’t any medical device companies that identify as this type of corporation (at least I couldn’t find any). Does anyone know of any medical device company that identifies as an LLP?
I found an LLP called Covington & Burling LLP that specialize in providing regulatory counsel to device and diagnostic companies ranging from start-ups to multi-billion dollar companies. They have a team of lawyers with experience working with the FDA, that advise on the full range of regulatory requirements for the entire duration of the product lifecycle. This firm also operates in the US, Europe, and Asia. An interesting point I do want to bring up is that during my time looking for LLP's in the medical device field, the closest I could find were law firms that worked with medical device companies. This implies that companies that actually design and manufacture medical devices that require a large number of employees and capital do not organize themselves as LLPs.
When doing a general local search on Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) in the area, many of the results were private doctor's practices, dentists, and law offices. I personally decided to look into a local doctor's practice by the name of Salerno Medical Associates LLP in East Orange, NJ. The practice started as a home office by the Salernos (a husband and wife) and rose to fame due to being the first female physician's office in Newark. As the practice was able to grow and expand they were able to bring more people into the practice and therefore became an LLP which allowed for the practice to have multiple partners. Additionally, as the practice grew, so did the services that were provided. Salerno was able to expand from just basic family medicine into primary care, preventative care, care for the mentally ill, surgical care, and care for the elderly. The practice was able to achieve this wide variety of services by pledging its duty to serving the underserved Newark community.
The typical LLP is owned by a few professionally licensed partners who benefit from the fact that each partner is not liable for any legal action taken against the other partners. For example, doctor's offices, law firms or accounting firms are commonly seen LLPs. These organizations allow the partners to share resources such as office space while being able to work with their own clients, and most importantly, in the event that one partner is sued the assets of the other partners are protected.
As @DevDesai said above, it seems like the majority of LLPs involved in the medical device industry are law firms that provide legal consulting services to medical device manufacturers. This could be a career path for someone with a background in biomedical engineering who wants to start their own business, especially if they have experience working in regulatory affairs.
However, doing a quick Google search I was able to find a company based in New York called Cameron Engineering & Associates. They are an LLP providing services on various public infrastructure projects, for example they are currently working on the Long Island Rail Road expansion project. They do hire mechanical and electrical engineers according to their webpage, so it may be an interesting opportunity for engineers looking to work in a different type of company.
An LLP that I found was Scura, Wigfield, Heyer, Stevens & Cammarota, LLP in Wayne, Hoboken, Hackensack, Newark, and Secaucus in NJ. This LLP is made up of lawyers that specialize in bankruptcy and personal injuries. In addition to these two main services, the lawyers also offer representation for employment discrimination, and business, corporate, and civil litigation cases. They also provide help with estate planning and administration, elder law and Medicaid planning, and commercial and real estate law.
Just like discussed in the lectures almost all of the LLPs that I came across were made up of professionals, doctors or lawyers. Rarely, I saw an LLP for accountants. Could this be that accountants are more typically employed by corporations?
When researching limited liability partnerships (LLP) in the medical device development field I came across a company called Crowell and Moring LLP. This LLP is a group of medical device lawyers that do regulatory counseling and compliance for medical device companies. Crowell and Moring LLP works to help mitigate risks and advise O.U.S. medical device companies on compliance with regulations before, during, and after entry into the U.S. market. As we have talked about in the past weeks during regulatory basics lectures, medical device companies face a lot of paper work and planning to make sure their device can hit the market properly and Crowell and Moring LLP work to make that happen. The advantage of this LLP is that the founders of this company have full control of their company, yet this company was established in 1979. The disadvantage of this company being 40+ year old is that if an owner happens to pass away, the company will die along with them.
In my general research for Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs), I've noticed that the majority of the results to show on Google are law firms and medical practices. In LLPs, two or more people have partnership where each partner has limited personal responsibility for the debts limited to their capital contribution in the LLP. In my search, I came across a local LLP named Medisave USA, which is known as a medical supply store distributing stethoscopes, medical equipment, and diagnostic equipment.
From my research on Limited Liability Partnerships(LLP), I found one that was based in Sherman Oaks, California by the name of Heath Steinbeck, LLP. They are a life sciences and biomedical corporation that develops state of the art therapies, products and devices that meet and exceed current, modern and up-to-date medical and medicinal standards. They act as legal counselors, facilitators, and advisors to their start-up clients. They file billowing and equity sharing arrangements with their partners, and have their foot in not only medical device, but generally devices in many different industries. They also partner with US and international businesses.
As with other forms of partnership, the LLP business is responsible for the debts and obligations of the LLP. This includes responsibility for the tortious actions of any partner, employee, or other agent of the business.Overall, it is the flexibility of an LLP for a certain type of professional that makes it a superior option to an LLC or other corporate entity.The legal costs of forming a limited partnership can be even higher than they are to for a corporation because in some states they are governed by securities laws. Each year, a professional who owns a LLP must file IRS form 1065. The form indicates how an individual allocates their share of income or losses from the partnership. Tax regulations limit the amount of losses an LLC can deduct on a personal tax return.
