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Why is defendant using business name but not "general partnership dba business name"?

Asked in San Luis Obispo, CA - 10 months

I'm a plaintiff suing 2 defendants, a business and 1 of the owners as an individual. This business sued me in the past, as a corporation. Now in my case against them, in discovery they're saying they're a general partnership, but they've never said this in any of their documents (2 answers and about 7 motions), they just use their business name (not "general partnership dba business name"). (Nothing is filed with state or county.) They have a big law firm working for them, are they justified in doing this because I sued them using their business name and not "general partnership dba business name?"

Attorney Answers (4)

Daryl Justin Miller

Daryl Justin Miller

Newport Beach Litigation Lawyer

Licensed in CA

Answered 10 months ago. It's generally considered a good thing for you to have the defendant admit it is a general partnership. The general partners are liable for the partnership debts (as opposed to being protected by a veil of limited liability, as would be the case if the defendant was a corporation). You might want to look at amending your Complaint to sue ALL owners (general partners), not just the one you named. Technicalities with the defendant's name can generally be cleared up post-judgment, especially where an inaccuracy is caused by the defendant's discovery response. Of course, this is not legal advise; as the other responses indicate, there is not sufficient information provided to give you complete counsel.
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A Melissa Johnson

A Melissa Johnson

San Diego Litigation Lawyer

Licensed in CA

Answered 10 months ago. Your question does not contain enough information to provide a meaningful response.
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David M Blain

David M Blain

Dana Point Litigation Lawyer

Licensed in CA

Answered 10 months ago. If you haven't already, you can use the general formal interrogatories to discover the exact business entity of the defendant. Just be sure to mark all the questions in part 3, which seeks the general background information for businesses.

Discovery Form - 001 can be found at:

http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/disc001.pdf
This response does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and I. I am not your lawyer and I am not... more
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Frank Wei-Hong Chen

Frank Wei-Hong Chen

San Marino Litigation Lawyer

Licensed in CA

Answered 10 months ago. We would be speculating as to why the defendants answered in the manner they did. Generally speaking, a general partnership is not required to file a fictitious business name statement in order to defend litigation. Perhaps in the past, the entity was a corporation but now it is just a general partnership.
Frank W. Chen has been licensed to practice law in California since 1988. The information presented here is... more
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