Ex-Halliwells partners may have to find £500,000 each
03 September 2010
The full extent of the liabilities of Halliwells' former partners was made clear this week, with some of them reported to be on the hook for half a million quid.

Partners borrowed a stack of money to finance contributions to the firm over the last few years - for which of course they remain on the hook despite Halliwells having gone bust. Apparently they doubled their usual contributions to the firm in 2008 by taking out loans with Handelsbanken, and earlier this year 28 partners raised a further £2.3m in loans from the Co-op. This is on top of a loan of nearly £20 million which was renegotiated with RBS. That adds up to, woah, a lot. Legal Week reports that some partners could be personally liable for more than £500,000.

Required reading for former Halliwells' partners

In addition, equity partners face possible claims from a variety of aggrieved parties - salaried partners who contributed to the firm on the assumption that it was in rude health, suppliers, and the firm's former landlords. It's not a brilliant position to be honest.

With news this week of partners at Addleshaws having to stump up an average of £90k each to pay for redundancies and a shiny new office, the lure of partnership is looking more tarnished than ever.