Ask The Business Lawyer

And for icing on the cake:

• I didn't do enough due diligence to make sure I had chosen the right partner.  Here's the kicker:  I didn't listen to my gut.  Grace is an amazing service provider -- bright, creative, compassionate.  Really cares about her clients.  But I knew that she was going through a rough time personally, and there were personal/social situations we had together where I saw that she didn't have the same level of detail-orientation and follow-through that I had.  Especially when she started to lose interest in a particular project or her attention was diverted elsewhere.  And I was definitely seeing that her initial passion for the venture (after all, she was the one who sold me on it) was waning.  That she was participating less and less in the organization's regular phone calls.  That she was developing a negative attitude about the people in the organization and was letting that get in the way of her desire to start the business.  And the last thing I needed was to have the brunt of the business dropped in my lap.  I also consulted with a few trusted colleagues (some of whom knew Grace; some didn't), and their feedback indicated that while I might be able to get something out of the situation, it really wasn't ideal . . . and given all of the other business and personal matters on my plate, I didn't need to add anything to it that had the real possibility of becoming more work and less fun than it was worth.