> We're not working on vernacular definition here, we're working on legal definition
Indeed we are not, but absent various exceptions the legal definition of a term is its ordinary meaning.
I don't know if there's a history here of courts interpreting (or legislatures defining, or so on) "partner" in a particular technical way that would cause a deviation from that default, I'm certainly not going to try and prove that negative, but as a starting point for an informal discussion on the internet it's a reasonable guess that there is not.
Indeed we are not, but absent various exceptions the legal definition of a term is its ordinary meaning.
I don't know if there's a history here of courts interpreting (or legislatures defining, or so on) "partner" in a particular technical way that would cause a deviation from that default, I'm certainly not going to try and prove that negative, but as a starting point for an informal discussion on the internet it's a reasonable guess that there is not.