Bachrach v. Protectora

Summary

This 1918 Supreme Court case established important principles of partnership liability under Philippine civil law. When civil partnership "La Protectora" defaulted on truck purchase payments, the Court clarified that individual partners are jointly liable for their proportionate shares of partnership debts under Civil Code articles 1698 and 1137, but not solidarily liable for the entire amount. The Court distinguished between authorization to bind the partnership versus personal liability, holding that partners who authorized their manager to purchase equipment were liable for partnership debts based on their partnership status, not personal guaranty. The decision requires partnership assets to be exhausted first before individual partner liability attaches, with each partner responsible for their aliquot portion of any remaining debt.