Private practices in the health care industry, including those owned by physicians, dentists, and other health care professionals, operate in a unique and highly regulated environment. In such an environment, the relationship among partners is one of the foundations of practice’s success. At the core of this arrangement are the governing documents setting forth the terms by which the relationship among the owners is set forth. For the purposes of this article, the owners of the business entity will be called partners. However, the type of entity involved will dictate what the owners are actually called (such as shareholders of a corporation or members of an LLC). Partnership agreement is the term used in this article, although technically in an LLC the document would be an operating agreement and, in a corporation, employment agreement, shareholders’ agreement and bylaws would generally be the governing documents. A partnership agreement serves as a critical foundation for the successful ownership, governance, operation and longevity of a practice, delineating the rights, responsibilities, financial interests and expectations of co-owners.