Boca Raton Business Attorney

Most business disputes do not begin in a courtroom. They begin with a missed distribution, a signature that should have required a second owner’s approval, or an operating agreement nobody has read since the day it was signed. By the time a lawsuit is on the table, the real question is usually what happens to the company, and to the people who built it. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business litigation and real estate firm serving Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and the rest of Palm Beach and Broward Counties, and it works with owners, investors, and families on exactly those questions.

If you are searching for a Boca Raton business attorney, the first thing to sort out is which kind of lawyer you need. Some companies need someone to draft and review contracts before anything goes wrong. Others need a litigator now, because a partner has stopped answering questions, money has left the company accounts, or a contract deadline has passed.

Boca Raton businesses tend to be closely held: two or three owners, sometimes relatives, sometimes friends who started a company on a handshake. Closely held companies produce a particular kind of dispute, one where the legal rights on paper and the working relationship between the owners have drifted far apart.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team as Your Boca Raton Business Lawyer

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in South Florida’s difficult business and real estate disputes, serving clients throughout Boca Raton, Palm Beach County, and Broward County. Founder Andrew M. Schwartz has spent 37 years in litigation, with his career built around complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders. He was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989, earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986, and received his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989.

Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator, handles business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts. That matters locally, because Palm Beach and Broward County business disputes can land in either system depending on the parties and the claims.

The firm practices as a true legal team, meaning everyone working on a matter knows the file and can answer when a client calls. There is a strict 24 hour return call policy when attorneys are in court. Andrew Schwartz describes the goal plainly: clients often think they want a hyper-aggressive lawyer, but what they usually want is someone who acts as the situation requires and uses finesse when finesse will do, at a cost that makes sense against what is at stake.

Recent results reflect the same approach to detailed, document-driven cases. After a 5-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court, the firm’s client received a 32-page final judgment awarding specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. The firm is also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and a significant share of its work arrives as referrals from other attorneys, including out of state counsel whose clients have Florida disputes.

Business Problems a Boca Raton Attorney Handles

• Business Divorce and Partner Disputes: Deadlocked management, buyout and valuation fights, breaches of operating or shareholder agreements, and minority owners who feel frozen out. These can end in a negotiated buyout, a structured wind-down, or court-ordered dissolution.
• Complex Contract Litigation: Purchase agreements, operating agreements, commercial leases, loan documents, and construction contracts. These cases tend to turn on exact wording and the history of how the parties actually dealt with each other.
• Missing Funds and Diverted Money: Unpaid distributions, commingled accounts, disputed capital contributions, and managers who cannot account for company money. Claims can include an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, and recovery of the funds.
• Family Business Conflicts: Siblings who inherited a company together, parents and children with different plans, or in-laws sharing ownership. These matters call for discretion alongside firm protection of financial interests.
• Partition and Title Disputes: Co-owners of real estate who cannot agree what to do with a property, plus quiet title actions to clear competing ownership claims.
• Injunctions and Emergency Relief: Temporary and permanent injunctions to stop assets from being moved, spent, or encumbered while a dispute is pending.
• Real Estate Transactions and Litigation: Failed closings, purchase and sale contract disputes, and landlord and tenant matters, both commercial and residential.
• Outside General Counsel: Ongoing legal support, including serving as registered agent, for companies that want a lawyer involved before a problem becomes a lawsuit.

What to Do When a Business Dispute Reaches the Breaking Point

Start by getting the paper in order. Pull the operating agreement or shareholder agreement, any amendments, the articles of organization, recent bank and accounting records, and the written correspondence that shows who agreed to what. Many agreements contain buyout formulas, deadlock sale provisions, or dispute resolution clauses that control how a fight must proceed, and sometimes whether it must go to arbitration instead of court. Know what yours says before you send an angry email, because that email may become an exhibit.

Next, watch the clocks. In Florida, an action on a written contract generally must be filed within five years, while an oral or implied contract claim has four. A fraud claim runs four years from discovery, with an outer limit of 12 years. An action for specific performance has just one year, which surprises many owners in failed real estate deals. Negligence-based claims are now limited to two years for causes of action arising after March 24, 2023, and non-medical professional malpractice claims also run two years from when the problem was or should have been discovered. If you are unsure which category your claim falls into, treat the shortest plausible deadline as the real one.

If money is leaving the company, speed matters more than anything else. A court can issue injunctive relief to freeze the movement of assets while the case is pending, and in dissolution proceedings it can appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing. Document the transactions you can see, avoid taking company funds yourself to “even things out,” and call a lawyer before the account is empty.

Cases in this market are filed in the Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit for Palm Beach County or the Circuit Court of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit for Broward County, depending on where the defendants are and where the property sits. Disputes above $50,000 belong in circuit court, while smaller claims go to county court, and claims up to $8,000 go to small claims. Broward also maintains a complex business division that handles dissolution of certain business entities and large business and construction litigation, and a case can be directed into it through a specific filing procedure. Federal court for the Southern District of Florida holds sessions in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach when diversity or a federal question is involved.

How Owner Disputes Usually Unfold

Most disputes follow a recognizable arc. They start with a demand letter or a negotiation between lawyers, often after one owner discovers a problem with the books. Many resolve there, because the cost of litigating against a co-owner you are tied to financially is a powerful incentive. If talks stall, the next step is often mediation, and some agreements require arbitration first. Only after those paths fail does a case settle into a long stretch of discovery, where bank records, emails, and tax returns tell the real story.

Florida’s LLC statute gives a court several grounds to dissolve a company at the request of a manager or member: conduct of the business unlawfully, a situation in which it is not reasonably practicable to operate under the operating agreement, illegal or fraudulent conduct by those in control, misappropriation or waste of assets, or a deadlock that cannot be broken and threatens irreparable injury. A judge may appoint a receiver or custodian, or order a buyout of the petitioning member’s interest, instead of dissolving the company outright. If the operating agreement contains a deadlock sale provision that is triggered before the court finds deadlock, that contractual mechanism takes the place of a dissolution order.

Corporations work differently. A shareholder petitioning for dissolution can find the corporation or other shareholders electing to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value instead. If the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days of the first election, the court enters an order on those terms. The election is irrevocable unless a court finds it equitable to modify it, so the decision to elect is not one to make casually.

Real estate co-ownership disputes follow their own track. Partition actions are heard in chancery, the complaint must describe the land and name the owners, and the court appoints three commissioners to evaluate whether the property can be divided fairly. If it cannot, the court may order a public sale and divide the proceeds by ownership share. When the property was inherited, Florida’s heirs property rules can change the analysis and limit forced sales. Quiet title actions require the plaintiff to trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise.

Boca Raton Business Attorney: Frequently Asked Questions

What does a business attorney in Boca Raton actually do?

The work splits into two halves. Transactional work covers contracts, entity agreements, real estate deals, and ongoing compliance. Litigation covers what happens when an agreement is broken, an owner relationship collapses, or money disappears. A firm that does both can often see a dispute coming before it becomes a lawsuit.

What is a business divorce?

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

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

That depends on your operating agreement and the partner’s conduct. Many agreements contain buyout, expulsion, or dissociation provisions, and Florida law gives remedies for serious misconduct or when the company can no longer function. A lawyer needs to read the agreement before you act.

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. Specific performance claims have only one year, and fraud claims run four years from discovery with a 12 year cap. The right category depends on the facts, so confirm early.

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 situations, a court can issue injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved or spent while the case is pending.

Does every business dispute have to go to court?

No. Many are resolved through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and some agreements require those steps first. The firm’s attorneys are experienced in alternative dispute resolution and pursue the path most likely to meet the client’s goals efficiently.

Can a minority owner ask a Florida court to dissolve the company?

Yes, but the grounds are specific. For an LLC, they include misappropriation of assets, illegal conduct by those in control, or an unbreakable deadlock causing irreparable injury. For a corporation, a shareholder may petition on listed grounds, and the corporation or other shareholders may respond by electing to buy the petitioner out at fair value.

What happens if our operating agreement has a deadlock sale clause?

If the clause is triggered before a court finds the grounds for deadlock-based dissolution, the contractual process controls instead of a judicial dissolution order or court-directed purchase, provided it is actually carried out. Timing and compliance with the clause’s terms are critical.

My business partner lives in New York. Can that complicate a Florida case?

It can add steps, such as service of process and questions about where to file, but it rarely stops a case. Claims may proceed in the Fifteenth or Seventeenth Circuit, or in federal court when diversity jurisdiction applies. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with interests in South Florida and handles the local appearances.

Can a failed commercial real estate closing be enforced in court?

Often, yes. A buyer or seller may seek damages or specific performance, a court order requiring the deal to close. The one-year limit for specific performance makes prompt action essential, and the firm has obtained a final judgment granting specific performance after a bench trial in Broward County.

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

It depends on the amount, the relationship, and what else is exposed. Claims up to $50,000 can proceed in county court, and a short consultation can show whether a demand letter, mediation, or filing makes economic sense. Spending more on fees than the dispute is worth defeats the purpose.

Do you work with other attorneys on referred matters?

Yes. A significant part of the practice comes from other lawyers, including out of state counsel and Florida attorneys who do not handle business litigation. Referring counsel stay informed throughout the matter.

Serving Business Owners Across Boca Raton and South Florida

From downtown Boca Raton and the neighborhoods around the Town Center and Glades Road corridors, the firm represents business owners and investors across the city. It also works with clients in Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Highland Beach, Deerfield Beach, Coconut Creek, Parkland, Coral Springs, and Pompano Beach, along with companies based farther north in Lake Worth, Wellington, Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, and West Palm Beach.

In Broward County, the team serves clients in Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, Sunrise, Hollywood, Davie, and Weston, appearing in the courts that handle their disputes. Many clients live elsewhere entirely, including New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, while holding business or real estate interests in Palm Beach and Broward Counties. Whether the company is a family restaurant, a development partnership, or a professional practice with three owners, the firm’s work is the same: protect what the client has built while pursuing a resolution that makes practical sense.

Talk With a Boca Raton Business Law Attorney

If an owner relationship has broken down, money has gone missing, or a contract is about to expire without being honored, speaking with a Boca Raton business law attorney early gives you more options than waiting. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team will review your agreements, explain which deadlines apply, and lay out whether negotiation, mediation, or litigation fits your goals and budget. Call to schedule a consultation and get a straight assessment of where you stand.