Legal Definitions - leonina societas

Definition: Leonina societas is a Latin term that means "partnership with a lion." It refers to an illegal partnership in Roman law where a partner only shares in the losses, not the profits. It is a partnership where one person takes the lion's share.

Example: In a business partnership, if one partner agrees to take all the profits and the other partner only takes the losses, it is an example of leonina societas. This type of partnership is not recognized as binding because it goes against the nature and purpose of a partnership, which is to gain for all parties involved.

The example illustrates how leonina societas is an unfair and illegal partnership where one partner takes advantage of the other by only sharing in the losses and not the profits.