A New Jersey appeals court has upheld dismissal of a lawyer's claim that he attained equity partner status when his law firm gave him a tax form listing his compensation as “partner's share of income.”

The Appellate Division affirmed the dismissal of claims by attorney Thomas Torzewski that the schedule K-1 form issued by his former firm and assorted other indicia make him an equity partner. The appeals court affirmed the decision of a trial judge who said Torzewski is not an equity partner because he had no signed partnership agreement.

In claiming equity partner status, Torzewski relied on the K-1 form, which said he received $233,326 in 2012 and indicated his pay was 23 percent of the firm's profits. He was issued the form for 2012 instead of the W-2 form listing his earnings that he received in 2010 and 2011. Torzewski also cited various other factors, such as his authority to sign checks on behalf of the partnership, his access to firm financial information, his status as co-trustee of the firm's 401(k) plan, his use of a firm credit card and his involvement in firm management decisions, such as hiring employees and negotiating an office lease. But Judges Carmen Messano and Amy O'Connor rejected his argument, finding no evidence in the record of a partnership agreement.