## LLP – Meaning and Concept
### Statutory definition – Section 2(n)
'Limited Liability Partnership' means a partnership formed and registered under this Act.
### Three key ideas
1. A new form of legal business entity — it is not a partnership under the Indian Partnership Act, 1932, and not a company under the Companies Act, 2013. It is a distinct form created by the LLP Act, 2008.
2. Separate legal entity with limited liability — the LLP itself is liable to the full extent of its assets, but the partners' liability is limited to their agreed contribution.
3. Hybrid character — the LLP combines:
- the corporate structure of a company (separate personality, perpetual succession, limited liability), AND
- the partnership-firm flexibility (internal management governed by mutual agreement among partners).
### Why this matters
- Creditors deal with the LLP as a person; they cannot, in the ordinary course, pursue the partners' personal assets.
- Partners can craft their own LLP agreement to define profit-sharing, duties, capital, decision-making, exit rules — without the heavy procedural rules that bind a company.