Coconut Creek Business Litigation Attorney

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in Coconut Creek and across Broward County and Palm Beach County who are caught in disputes over companies, contracts, money, and real estate. Hiring a Coconut Creek business litigation attorney usually comes down to one question: does the dispute have a deadline attached, and has it already started running? Florida gives you five years to sue on a written contract, four years on an oral one, and only one year to ask a court for specific performance. Waiting to see if a partner cools off can cost you the claim.

The second question is whether the company can survive while you fight. A business with two owners who will not speak to each other, or a partner moving money out of an account you both depend on, does not stand still for a lawsuit. Some situations call for a court order within days, and others call for a quiet buyout negotiated across a conference table. Knowing which one you are in is the first decision, and it shapes everything after it.

Business Disputes That Land in Court for Coconut Creek Owners

Coconut Creek sits in northern Broward County, so most disputes involving businesses and property here are filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County. Disputes with large amounts at stake, or with a federal question or parties from different states, can also end up in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

The amount in controversy decides much of this. Claims above the county court ceiling go to circuit court, and smaller claims stay in county or small claims court. Where the dispute is a business divorce or a large commercial case, Broward also has complex business divisions within its circuit court that handle things like dissolutions of certain business entities and large business and construction litigation. A case can be filed directly into one of those divisions using the required form at the time of filing, and the clerk assigns it randomly.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Business Litigation in Coconut Creek

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm serving Coconut Creek, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and the rest of Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Founder Andrew M. He earned his undergraduate degree at Emory University in 1986 and his law degree at the University of Miami in 1989. His career has been built around complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders.

Andrew is joined by Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts. The firm practices as a true team, which means everyone working on your matter knows the file. When you call, someone who knows your case can answer, and the firm keeps a strict 24 hour return call policy when the attorneys are in court. Clients tend to come in expecting to want the most aggressive lawyer available. Andrew’s view, shaped by decades of practice, is that what most owners actually want is a lawyer who acts as the situation requires and uses finesse when finesse will do, at a cost that makes sense against what is at stake.

The results reflect trial work, not just negotiation. After a five-day bench trial, a Broward County Circuit Court judge issued a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. The firm is also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and a significant part of its practice comes from referrals by other attorneys, including out of state lawyers whose clients have Florida disputes.

Types of Business and Real Estate Disputes We Handle

• Business Divorce: Co-owners who cannot agree on management, compensation, or direction may face deadlock. Florida’s LLC statute lets a member or manager seek judicial dissolution on grounds that include deadlock with irreparable injury, misappropriated or wasted assets, illegal or fraudulent conduct by those in control, or the impracticability of operating under the operating agreement.
• Shareholder and Minority Owner Disputes: In a corporation, a court can dissolve the company on statutory grounds, but the corporation or the other shareholders can often elect to buy out the petitioning shareholder at fair value instead, which changes the shape of the whole case.
• Complex Contract Litigation: Purchase agreements, operating and shareholder agreements, commercial leases, loan documents, and construction contracts. These cases turn on the exact wording and on how the parties actually dealt with each other.
• Missing Funds and Unpaid Distributions: Diverted company money, commingled accounts, disputed capital contributions, and managers who cannot account for the books. Remedies can include an accounting, a breach of fiduciary duty claim, and recovery of the funds.
• Family Business Disputes: Siblings who inherited a company, parents and children with different plans, or spouses and in-laws sharing ownership. These need discretion alongside firm protection of your financial position.
• Partition Actions: When co-owners of real estate cannot agree, a Florida court can divide the property or order it sold and the proceeds split. Property inherited among relatives may fall under the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, which adds protections before a forced sale.
• Quiet Title and Title Disputes: A suit to remove a cloud on title or resolve competing ownership claims. A plaintiff generally has to trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise.
• Injunctions and Emergency Relief: Temporary and permanent injunctions to stop assets from being moved or spent, or to protect property, while the dispute is pending.

What to Do Now If a Business Partner or Contract Dispute Is Escalating

Start by pinning down the deadline that applies to you. A claim on a written contract has a five-year window. An oral or implied contract claim has four years, as does an action to rescind a contract. Fraud claims run four years from discovery, with an outer limit of twelve years. A suit seeking specific performance has only one year. These periods work differently from one another, and mixing up which one applies to your facts is one of the easiest ways to lose a good claim.

Next, gather the paper. Collect the operating agreement or shareholder agreement, any amendments, the contract at the center of the dispute, bank and accounting records, tax returns, and the emails and texts that show what each side said and did. If you suspect money is leaving the company, document it now, and do not confront the partner in a way that gives them time to move assets. Tell your lawyer about any buy-sell or deadlock provision in your agreement early. A deadlock sale clause that is started before a court finds grounds for dissolution can take the place of a judicial dissolution order, so the timing of who pulls that trigger matters.

Decide what outcome you actually want. Some owners want out at a fair price, some want the other owner out, and some want the business to keep running. Each goal points to a different tool: a negotiated buyout, a court-supervised dissolution, a receiver or custodian, or an injunction. Before a court appoints a receiver or custodian for an LLC, it has to hold a hearing and notify the parties, so emergency relief is possible but is not automatic.

Finally, be careful about what you do with a lease or property dispute on your own. For commercial and residential tenancies alike, notices have strict content and timing rules. In a residential nonpayment case, for example, the tenant has three days, excluding weekends and court holidays, after a written demand, and accepting partial rent can create procedural traps if it is not handled properly. Getting a notice wrong can force a landlord to start over.

How Partition and Quiet Title Cases Actually Move

In a partition case, the complaint must describe the land, name the owners and where they live, and state what share each holds. If the court orders partition, it appoints three commissioners, chosen by the court unless the parties agree. If the commissioners report that the land cannot be divided without prejudice to the owners, the court may order a sale at public auction with proceeds divided in proportion to ownership. A sale on credit is possible for good cause, but at least one-third of the purchase price must be paid down unless everyone consents otherwise. Heirs property cases follow a separate track, and a court cannot order a division in kind unless commissioners have weighed the statutory factors and found that dividing the property would prejudice the cotenants as a group.

Quiet title actions can be filed in any county where any part of the land sits. They are used to cancel a conveyance or other evidence of title held by someone who is not the rightful owner. Adverse possession claims involve a seven-year possession requirement, and a claim under color of title requires that the instrument be recorded in the county where the property is located.

Questions Coconut Creek Owners Ask About Business Litigation

What is a business divorce?

It is the separation of co-owners of a company, whether partners, LLC members, or shareholders. It can end in a negotiated buyout, a sale of the company, a structured wind-down, or court-ordered dissolution when the owners cannot agree.

Can I force a business partner out of my LLC in Florida?

It depends on your operating agreement and the conduct involved. Many agreements include buyout, expulsion, or dissociation provisions, and the statute offers remedies for serious misconduct or when the company can no longer function. A lawyer needs to read the agreement before telling you which options are real.

What can I do if a partner is taking money from the company?

You may have claims for breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, conversion, and recovery of the funds. In urgent cases a court can issue injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved or spent while the case is pending.

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

Five years for a contract founded on a written instrument and four years for oral or implied contracts. The 2023 change that shortened the negligence deadline to two years did not change the written-contract period.

Does every business dispute end up in a trial?

No. Many are resolved by negotiation, mediation, or arbitration. The firm is experienced in all of them as well as courtroom litigation, and pursues the route most likely to meet your goals at a reasonable cost.

What is specific performance, and why is its deadline so short?

It is a court order requiring a party to carry out a contract, often used in real estate deals where money alone will not make the buyer whole. Florida sets a one-year limit on such actions, which is far shorter than the period for most contract claims, so it should be raised with a lawyer quickly.

If my partner and I are deadlocked, will a judge simply dissolve the company?

Not necessarily. Dissolution requires statutory grounds, and for deadlock that includes threatened or actual irreparable injury. A court can instead appoint a receiver or custodian, or order one side to buy out the other. For corporations, the other shareholders may elect to purchase the petitioner’s shares at fair value, and if the parties agree on price and terms within 60 days of the first election, the court enters an order on those terms.

Can a lawsuit be filed over a company in a different county than where I live?

Often yes, and where it belongs depends on the defendants, where the contract was performed, and where any property sits. A Coconut Creek owner may find the case belongs in Broward County, Palm Beach County, or federal court.

I live out of state but co-own a South Florida property or company. Do I have to travel for every hearing?

The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, handles the local court appearances, and keeps you informed at each stage so you do not have to travel for every proceeding.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer before a dispute turns into a lawsuit?

Often it is cheaper. A lawyer can review an operating agreement, flag a buy-sell or deadlock clause, and negotiate a separation before positions harden. The firm’s outside general counsel program, which includes serving as a company’s registered agent, is built around catching problems before they become litigation.

Should I stop paying a landlord or contractor if I think they breached first?

That is risky. Leases and construction contracts often have notice and cure provisions, and stopping payment without following them can put you in breach. Have the document reviewed before you act.

Serving Coconut Creek Business Litigation Clients Across Broward and Palm Beach Counties

From Coconut Creek, the firm represents owners and investors throughout northern Broward County, including Margate, Coral Springs, Parkland, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Tamarac, Lauderhill, Sunrise, Plantation, and Fort Lauderdale. Across the county line in Palm Beach County, the firm serves clients in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Wellington, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, and West Palm Beach.

That reach matters for business disputes because companies, partners, and properties rarely stay inside one city. A Coconut Creek operating business may have a partner in Boca Raton, a leased space in Pompano Beach, and an investment property in West Palm Beach, and the firm can handle the matter in the courts that apply. It also represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or real estate interests in South Florida.

Talk With a Coconut Creek Business Litigation Lawyer Before Your Deadline Runs

If a partner, co-owner, or contract counterparty has put your company, your investment, or your property at risk, speak with a Coconut Creek business litigation lawyer at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team while you still have options. The firm will look at your agreements, the timeline, and what you want the outcome to be, and tell you plainly whether the answer is a negotiation, a mediation, or a court filing. Call to schedule a consultation.