Lantana Breach of Contract Attorney

Most contract disputes end one of three ways: you get paid, you get performance, or you get out of the deal on terms you can live with. Which of those is realistic depends on what the agreement says, what the other side actually did, and how fast you move. The Lantana breach of contract attorney team at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles contract disputes for business owners, investors, landlords, tenants, and families across Lantana, Palm Beach County, and neighboring Broward County.

Lantana sits in the middle of a busy corridor of small businesses, marine and trade operations, commercial leases, and investment property along the coast. That mix produces a steady flow of disputes: a buyer who walks from a purchase agreement, a partner who stops paying what the operating agreement requires, a contractor who abandons a job, a lender who calls a note. The early decisions in these cases, including what to put in writing, whether to demand performance or damages, and whether to seek court intervention immediately, tend to shape everything that follows.

Contract cases are won on paper. The wording of the agreement, the emails and invoices that followed, and the way the parties actually behaved all matter. A focused review of those documents usually tells you far more about your leverage than the other side’s threats do.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for a Contract Dispute

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a Boca Raton business and real estate litigation firm serving clients in Lantana, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and throughout Palm Beach and Broward Counties, along with clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who have business or real estate interests in South Florida. Complex contract litigation has been at the center of its work, covering purchase agreements, operating and shareholder agreements, commercial leases, loan documents, and construction contracts.

Andrew M. Schwartz, Founder, has spent 37 years in litigation and has practiced in Florida since being admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989. He earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989. Sundeep Nath, Senior Counsel, is a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts. That federal experience matters when a contract dispute crosses state lines or involves parties from outside Florida.

Results show up in the record. After a five-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court, the firm obtained a 32-page final judgment awarding its client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That is the kind of remedy that forces a party to actually close the deal rather than simply pay money.

The firm practices as a true legal team, so everyone working on your matter knows the file. There is a strict 24 hour return call policy when attorneys are in court. The attorneys are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and they look for the resolution that fits your goals and budget rather than stretching a case out for its own sake. Out of state clients are kept informed while the firm handles local court appearances, and a significant part of the practice comes from referrals by other attorneys.

Contract Disputes We Handle for Lantana Clients

• Purchase and Sale Agreement Failures: Failed closings, buyers or sellers who refuse to perform, and disputes over deposits, financing contingencies, and inspection terms for commercial and residential property.
• Operating Agreement and Shareholder Agreement Breaches: Owners who ignore buyout provisions, capital contribution requirements, distribution schedules, or restrictions on competing activity.
• Commercial Lease Disputes: Unpaid rent, defaults, personal guaranties, improvement obligations, and early terminations involving retail, office, and industrial space.
• Construction and Contractor Contracts: Abandoned projects, defective work, payment disputes, and change-order fights between owners, developers, and subcontractors.
• Loan Documents and Notes: Defaults, disputed balances, guaranty enforcement, and disagreements over repayment terms between private lenders and borrowers.
• Unpaid Distributions and Diverted Funds: Contract claims that overlap with breach of fiduciary duty and accounting claims when a partner or manager cannot explain where company money went.
• Family Business Agreements: Siblings, parents, and in-laws who signed agreements on a handshake mentality and now disagree about control, compensation, or a buyout.
• Oral and Implied Agreements: Deals made by phone or email, where the existence and terms of the agreement have to be proven through conduct and correspondence.

What to Do in the First Weeks After a Breach

Start by pulling together the full paper trail: the signed agreement and every amendment, the emails and texts around the deal, invoices, payment records, and anything showing what the other side promised and delivered. Do not rely on memory or on a single copy. If the contract has a notice-and-cure provision, a dispute-resolution clause, or a fee-shifting clause, those provisions control your next move, so read them before you send anything.

Be careful about what you say to the other side. A heated email that admits a missed obligation or waives a deadline can be used against you later. At the same time, do not sit still. Many agreements require written notice of default before you can sue, and continuing to accept late performance without reservation can undercut a later claim.

Deadlines are real. In Florida, a lawsuit on a written contract must generally be filed within five years. Claims on oral or implied contracts carry a four-year period. A fraud claim has four years from discovery, capped at 12 years overall. A suit seeking specific performance carries a one-year period, which catches people off guard in real estate deals. Negligence claims now have a two-year period after the 2023 amendments, but those amendments did not change the written-contract period. If your dispute might be framed more than one way, the shortest clock is the one that matters.

Where you file depends on the amount in dispute. Claims up to the county court limit go to county civil court, and larger claims go to circuit court. Small claims handle the lowest tier. Lantana is in Palm Beach County, so most local cases are in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, with the main courthouse in West Palm Beach and a South County courthouse in Delray Beach. If the other party is in Broward County, the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Fort Lauderdale may be the right venue, and Broward has a complex business division for larger business disputes. Federal court in the Southern District of Florida, with courthouses in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, comes into play when parties are from different states and the amount is large enough.

When money or property is at risk of disappearing, waiting for a final judgment is not an option. Courts can issue temporary and permanent injunctions to freeze the movement of assets or preserve property while the case is pending. Raising that early, with a clear factual record, is often the difference between a judgment you can collect and one that is worthless.

Remedies: Damages, Specific Performance, and Rescission

Money damages are the default remedy, but they are not the only one. When the subject of the contract is unique, such as a specific piece of real estate or a particular ownership interest, a court may order the breaching party to perform. Specific performance is difficult to win and requires moving quickly, but when it works, it delivers the actual deal rather than a check.

Rescission is the opposite goal: unwinding the agreement because of fraud, mistake, or a failure so fundamental that the deal should be undone. A rescission action carries a four-year limitations period in Florida. Contract claims also frequently sit alongside claims for breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, conversion, or fraud, especially in partnership and LLC disputes where one owner controlled the books.

Many agreements contain mediation or arbitration clauses, attorney fee provisions, jurisdiction clauses, or limits on recoverable damages. These clauses can make or break the economics of a case. A claim worth pursuing on paper may not be worth it if fees are not recoverable, and a defense that looks strong may collapse if the agreement says the loser pays.

Contract Questions Lantana Clients Ask

How long do I have to sue for breach of a written contract in Florida?

Five years for a legal or equitable action founded on a written instrument. Oral or implied contract claims have four years. Shorter periods apply to some related claims, so the way your case is framed matters.

Is a verbal agreement enforceable?

Often yes, but proving it is harder. Some categories of agreements must be in writing to be enforceable, and the terms of an oral deal are usually established through emails, payments, and how the parties acted afterward.

What is the difference between specific performance and damages?

Damages compensate you in money for what you lost. Specific performance orders the other side to do what the contract required. It is generally reserved for unique subjects such as real property, and the limitations period is only one year.

What if the other party breached first?

A prior material breach by the other side can excuse your own performance, but you need to be careful. If you stop performing without proper notice and the breach was not material, you may become the breaching party yourself.

Do I need to send a demand letter before filing suit?

Sometimes the contract requires written notice and an opportunity to cure. Even where it does not, a well-written demand can clarify the claim, set up fee recovery, and occasionally resolve the dispute without a filing.

Can I recover my attorney fees?

Only if the contract or a statute provides for them. Many commercial agreements contain prevailing-party clauses, which cut both ways, so review the fee provision before deciding whether to sue or defend.

My business partner stopped paying his share and is diverting money. Is that a contract claim?

It can be several claims at once: breach of the operating or partnership agreement, breach of fiduciary duty, and a claim for an accounting. Emergency injunctive relief may be available to stop assets from being moved while the case proceeds.

How long does a contract case take in Palm Beach County?

It varies with the amount at stake, how many parties are involved, and whether the case settles, goes to mediation, or goes to trial. Circuit civil cases are managed on tracks by the Fifteenth Circuit, and a simple collection matter moves much faster than a multi-party business dispute.

Can I handle a contract dispute from out of state?

Yes. We regularly represent clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with Florida business or real estate interests, and we handle local court appearances so you do not have to travel for every hearing.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer for a smaller contract dispute?

Often it is worth at least a document review. Smaller claims may fit in county court or small claims, and a lawyer can tell you quickly whether the claim is strong, whether fees are recoverable, and whether the cost of fighting makes sense compared with a negotiated settlement.

What if my contract requires arbitration?

Arbitration clauses are generally enforced, which means the dispute moves out of court into a private process. Our attorneys have experience in both arbitration and courtroom litigation and can advise on whether the clause applies and how to proceed.

Can a contract claim turn into a partition or title case?

Yes. When a failed real estate deal or a breakdown between co-owners involves land, a contract claim can be paired with a partition action or a quiet title action to resolve who owns the property.

Contract Dispute Representation Across Lantana and South Florida

We represent clients in Lantana and the surrounding Palm Beach County communities, including Lake Worth Beach, Hypoluxo, Manalapan, Boynton Beach, Greenacres, Atlantis, Palm Springs, and West Palm Beach. Farther south, we serve clients in Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Highland Beach, and Boca Raton’s western communities, and north toward Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter.

Our work also extends into Broward County, including Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, and Plantation. Whether the contract was signed in Lantana, performed in West Palm Beach, or breached by a counterparty in Fort Lauderdale, we can handle the dispute in the courts where it belongs and coordinate with out of state clients and referring attorneys throughout.

Speak With a Lantana Breach of Contract Lawyer

If a contract has been broken, the right next step depends on the agreement, the deadlines, and what you actually want out of the dispute. Contact the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team to talk with a Lantana breach of contract lawyer about your situation. Call to schedule a consultation, and we will review the documents, explain your options, and tell you plainly what a case is likely to involve.