Broward County Business Litigation Attorney

Business cases filed in Broward County land in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which maintains dedicated complex business divisions for disputes like entity dissolutions, large commercial claims, and construction litigation. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm that serves owners, investors, and families across Broward and Palm Beach Counties. If you are looking for a Broward County business litigation attorney, the firm handles partnership and LLC member disputes, contract litigation, missing-funds cases, partition and title actions, and emergency injunctions.

Most disputes that reach a litigator share a common shape: money, control, or property is at stake, and the people who once trusted each other no longer can agree on how to proceed. A deadlocked company cannot make decisions. A partner who cannot account for company funds puts everyone’s capital at risk. Co-owners of a Fort Lauderdale or Hollywood property may be unable to agree on selling, renting, or buying each other out. Each of these problems has a legal remedy in Florida, and the right one depends heavily on the paperwork you signed and what happened afterward.

The sections below explain how these disputes are actually handled in Broward County, what deadlines matter, and what to do first if you suspect a partner, co-owner, or counterparty has crossed a line.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Broward Business Disputes

The Andrew M. Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s 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. His practice has centered on complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders. 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.

The firm serves clients throughout Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, and across Palm Beach County and the rest of South Florida. It also represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut whose partners or properties are here, handling the local court appearances so those clients do not have to travel for every hearing. A meaningful share of the firm’s work comes from referrals by other attorneys, including out-of-state lawyers whose clients have Florida disputes.

Results matter more than adjectives. After a five-day bench trial, a Broward County circuit judge issued a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That outcome reflects the kind of work these cases demand: building a detailed record, tying the facts to the precise language of the agreement, and trying the case when negotiation does not resolve it.

The firm practices as a true team, so everyone working on your matter knows the file. Calls are returned within 24 hours when the attorneys are in court or otherwise unavailable, and scheduled conference calls can be arranged around your calendar. Andrew Schwartz’s own view is that clients usually think they want the most aggressive lawyer available, when what they need is someone who acts as the situation requires and uses finesse when finesse will do. 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.

Types of Business Disputes Our Broward County Litigators Handle

• Business Divorce: Owners who can no longer work together face a choice among a negotiated buyout, a sale of the company, a structured wind-down, or court-ordered dissolution. Valuation fights and deadlocked management are the usual flashpoints.
• LLC Member and Shareholder Disputes: Breaches of operating agreements and shareholder agreements, minority-owner oppression claims, and breach of fiduciary duty by managers or controlling owners.
• Complex Contract Litigation: Purchase agreements, commercial leases, loan documents, construction contracts, and other significant arrangements, where the outcome often turns on exact wording and the parties’ course of dealing.
• Missing Funds and Accounting Claims: Unpaid distributions, diverted company money, commingled accounts, and disputed capital contributions. Remedies can include an accounting, recovery of funds, and emergency relief to freeze movement of assets.
• Family Business Disputes: Siblings who inherited a company, parents and children with different visions, or in-laws who share ownership. These cases require discretion alongside firm protection of your financial position.
• Partition and Quiet Title Actions: Co-owners of real estate who cannot agree, including former business partners, heirs, unmarried couples, and investors, as well as owners who need to clear competing ownership claims.
• Real Estate Contract and Landlord-Tenant Disputes: Failed closings, purchase and sale contract fights, and commercial and residential landlord and tenant conflicts.
• Temporary and Permanent Injunctions: Court orders that stop a harmful act or preserve assets and property while the underlying case proceeds.

What to Do When a Business Relationship Breaks Down in Broward County

Start by securing information before the dispute becomes visible to the other side. Gather the operating agreement or shareholder agreement, any buy-sell terms, the articles of organization or incorporation, tax returns, bank and merchant statements, capital contribution records, and the emails or texts where the disagreement began. Document what you can see, but do not take company property or access accounts you are not authorized to use. Self-help of that kind tends to hand the other side a counterclaim.

Next, read what your agreement says about exit. Some operating agreements contain buyout formulas, expulsion provisions, or a deadlock sale mechanism, and under Florida’s LLC statute a deadlock sale provision that has been initiated before the court decides deadlock grounds exist can take priority over a judicial dissolution order. Timing can therefore matter. Under Florida’s corporate statute, if a shareholder petitions for dissolution on certain grounds, the corporation or other shareholders can elect to buy the petitioner out at fair value, and if the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days of the first election, the court enters an order on those terms. These mechanisms shape strategy from the first day.

Watch the clock on every claim. A lawsuit on a written contract generally must be filed within five years, while oral or implied contract claims carry four years. Fraud is four years from discovery, capped at 12 years. An action for specific performance carries a one-year period, which is why a failed real estate closing demands quick attention. Negligence-based claims, including professional malpractice, run two years. Waiting rarely helps, and these periods can shrink your leverage long before they expire.

If money is actively disappearing, say so early. Florida courts can issue temporary injunctions and, in dissolution proceedings, can appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing, so evidence of misappropriation or waste should be organized right away. In Broward County, business cases are heard in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, and the circuit civil division sits at the Central Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, with regional courthouses in Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, and Plantation. Claims above the county court ceiling belong in circuit court, and the Seventeenth Circuit’s complex business division handles larger matters such as entity dissolutions and big commercial or construction cases. Cases involving federal questions or diverse parties may belong in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

Finally, call a lawyer before you confront your partner. A sharply worded email can be used against you later, and a well-timed filing can freeze a bad situation in place.

How Florida Law Handles Dissolution, Partition, and Quiet Title

When owners are stuck, Florida law gives the court several tools. For an LLC, a member or manager can seek judicial dissolution on grounds that include unlawful conduct of the company’s affairs, impracticability of carrying on in line with the operating agreement, illegal or fraudulent conduct by those in control, misappropriation or waste of assets causing injury, or deadlock among managers or members that threatens irreparable injury. In a proceeding like this, the court may appoint a receiver or custodian or order a buyout of the petitioning member’s interest rather than dissolve the company outright. Corporations have a parallel structure, and the court can issue injunctions and take steps to preserve corporate assets while the case is pending.

Real property disputes follow their own track. All partition actions in Florida proceed in chancery. The complaint must describe the land, identify the owners and where they live, and state each owner’s share. The court may divide the property in kind, but when division would prejudice the owners, it can order a sale at public auction and split the proceeds in proportion to ownership. If the court allows a sale on credit, at least one-third of the purchase money must be paid down unless everyone consents otherwise. Property inherited by relatives as tenants in common may qualify as heirs property, which brings additional protections under the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act and a stronger presumption against forced sale.

Quiet title is the remedy when ownership is clouded. Florida courts can determine competing claims to land and cancel a conveyance or other record that clouds title. A plaintiff generally must trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise, and the action may be filed in any county where part of the land lies. Related to this, Florida bars suits to recover real property unless the plaintiff or a predecessor possessed it within seven years before filing, and adverse possession claims require seven years of continuous possession under the statutory conditions. For Broward owners with unclear title, a former partner’s lingering name on a deed, or a recorded instrument they never signed, quiet title can clear the path to sale or financing.

Broward County Business Litigation FAQs

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 business, a structured wind-down, or a court-ordered dissolution when the owners cannot agree.

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

It depends on your operating agreement and the partner’s conduct. Many agreements include buyout, expulsion, or dissociation terms, and Florida law offers court remedies for serious misconduct or when the company cannot function. A lawyer should review the agreement before you act.

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 dispute is pending.

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

Five years for a claim founded on a written instrument. Oral or implied contracts carry four years. Rescission is four years, and specific performance is one year, so a failed real estate deal needs fast action.

How does a partition action work?

A co-owner files in the circuit court asking the judge to divide the property or, if division is not practical, to order a sale and split the proceeds. Commissioners appointed by the court evaluate whether division would prejudice the owners, and a sale at public auction is the fallback.

Does every business dispute end up in court?

No. Many resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration. The attorneys here have experience in all of these, and they pursue the route most likely to meet your goals efficiently.

Which Broward court will hear my case?

It depends on the amount and the type of claim. Broward County’s circuit courts hear disputes above the county court limit, and the Seventeenth Circuit has a complex business division for entity dissolutions and large commercial matters. Federal court is an option when jurisdictional requirements are met.

Can a partner’s misconduct be handled without dissolving the whole company?

Often, yes. Courts can order a buyout of the petitioning owner, appoint a custodian, issue injunctions, or compel an accounting rather than shutting the business down. In corporate cases, other shareholders may elect to purchase the petitioner’s shares at fair value to avoid dissolution, and that election is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to modify it.

My operating agreement has a deadlock sale clause. Does it control?

Often it does, if the clause is initiated before the court decides that deadlock grounds exist and it is then carried through. That is why reading the agreement closely, and acting in the right order, can change the outcome of a case.

I live in New York or New Jersey. Can you handle my Broward dispute without my traveling constantly?

Yes. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with Florida business or property interests. The attorneys handle local court appearances and keep you updated at each stage.

How can a lawyer help before a dispute becomes a lawsuit?

Through the firm’s outside general counsel program, which includes serving as the company’s registered agent and advising on contracts, compliance, and day-to-day operational questions. Having a litigator review agreements early often keeps disagreements from becoming lawsuits.

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

Often a letter or a mediation resolves a smaller claim, and the firm looks for solutions that make economic sense. A lawyer can tell you early whether a claim justifies the cost of pursuit and which court, if any, is the right forum.

Serving Business Litigation Clients Across Broward County and South Florida

The firm represents clients throughout Broward County, from Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood through Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Coral Springs, Plantation, Sunrise, Davie, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Weston, Lauderhill, Tamarac, Margate, Coconut Creek, Oakland Park, Dania Beach, Hallandale Beach, and Cooper City. Business owners, investors, and heirs in each of these communities bring the same kinds of conflicts: stalled partnerships, disputed buyouts, commingled accounts, and shared properties no one can agree on.

The firm also serves Palm Beach County, including Boca Raton and West Palm Beach, and clients throughout South Florida whose disputes cross county lines. Many of our clients live in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut and hold a business interest or real estate share here, and the firm handles the Florida side of their cases from start to finish.

Talk With a Broward County Business Litigation Lawyer

If a partner, co-owner, or counterparty has put your company, your investment, or your property at risk, the sooner a litigator reviews the documents, the more options you will have. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team brings 37 years of Florida litigation experience to business disputes in Broward County and across South Florida. Call to schedule a consultation with a Broward County business litigation lawyer and get a candid assessment of where you stand and what path makes sense.