[iamchmod]

The best in my opinion to protect yourself is to have a great relationship with the partner. Meet with them regularly, listen to their concerns, share your concerns, yada, yada. There is really no protection against a bad partner that doesn't involve legal bills either upfront writing up a completely protective contract (which will spook other side anyways) or when disputing with them and needing to bring in the lawyers once things go south. The best prevention is to choose partners wisely and bring any concerns up quickly. You aren't going to have great partners 100% of the time, but if you can get to 80% of the time that saves a ton of stress, hassle and money