Boynton Beach Business Litigation Attorney

A business dispute involving a Boynton Beach company or property is usually filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Palm Beach County, and the choice of court shapes the whole case. Claims above the county court ceiling go to circuit court, where co-owner fights, contract suits, and emergency injunction requests are heard by judges who see these disputes regularly. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate litigation for owners, investors, and families in Boynton Beach and across Palm Beach and Broward Counties, and the firm built its practice around the disputes that tear co-owners apart.

A Boynton Beach business litigation attorney is most often called when the relationship at the center of a company has broken down: a partner has stopped contributing, an LLC member is moving money, a shareholder agreement is being read two different ways, or siblings who inherited a property cannot agree on whether to sell it. These cases tend to unfold in a predictable order. There is a period of escalating disagreement, then a demand letter or a stalled negotiation, then a filing, often paired with a request for emergency relief if assets are at risk. The sections below walk through how each stage typically works under Florida law and what a business owner in Boynton Beach should be doing at each one.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Business Disputes in Boynton Beach

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in South Florida’s most difficult business and real estate disputes, with clients in Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and throughout Palm Beach County and Broward County. The firm also works with clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or real estate interests here. Its focus is business divorce, partnership and member disputes, complex contract litigation, partition actions, title disputes, and injunctions.

Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, has spent 37 years in litigation. He was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989, earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989, and has built his career around 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, which matters when a dispute may move between the Fifteenth Circuit and the federal court for the Southern District of Florida.

That depth shows up in results. After a five-day bench trial in Broward County, the circuit court issued a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. Specific performance is a demanding remedy, because the court compels the other side to complete the deal rather than simply paying damages, and it requires a trial record built with care.

The firm practices as a true legal team, so everyone working on a file knows it and can answer when a client calls. 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 the goal is the resolution that serves the client’s objectives and budget rather than a longer case for its own sake. A meaningful share of the firm’s work also comes from referrals by other attorneys, including out of state counsel whose clients have Florida disputes.

Disputes Our Boynton Beach Business Litigation Lawyers Handle

• Business Divorce and Deadlock: Co-owners of an LLC or corporation who can no longer agree on management, compensation, or direction. Outcomes include a negotiated buyout, a sale, a structured wind-down, or court-ordered dissolution when the owners cannot resolve it themselves.
• Breach of Operating and Shareholder Agreements: Disputes over buy-sell triggers, transfer restrictions, capital calls, voting rights, and expulsion or dissociation clauses. These cases often turn on exact contract wording and the parties’ history of dealing.
• Breach of Fiduciary Duty: Claims against managers, majority members, or partners who favor their own interests, usurp opportunities, or self-deal at the company’s expense.
• Missing Funds and Accounting Claims: Unpaid distributions, diverted company money, commingled accounts, and disputed capital contributions, with claims for an accounting and recovery of funds.
• Complex Contract Litigation: Purchase agreements, commercial leases, loan documents, construction contracts, and other significant agreements where performance has failed or the meaning of a clause is contested.
• Partition and Title Disputes: Co-owners of real estate, including former business partners, heirs, unmarried couples, and investors, who need the property divided or sold, plus quiet title actions to clear competing ownership claims.
• Family Business Conflicts: Siblings, parents and children, and in-laws who share ownership and disagree about control, pay, and succession, handled with discretion alongside the financial claims.
• Temporary and Permanent Injunctions: Emergency relief to stop assets from being moved or spent, or to protect real property and vital business interests while the case is pending.

What Judicial Dissolution and Buyouts Actually Look Like

When owners reach a true impasse, Florida’s statutes give the court tools beyond simply picking a winner. For an LLC, a member or manager can ask the circuit court to dissolve the company on specific grounds: the company’s activities are being conducted unlawfully, it is not reasonably practicable to carry on the business under the articles and operating agreement, controlling members have acted or are expected to act illegally or fraudulently, assets are being misappropriated or wasted to the company’s injury, or the owners are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened or occurring. Courts do not treat ordinary disagreement as enough. The petitioner has to fit the facts to a recognized ground.

Once a dissolution case is filed and shows sufficient merit, the court can appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing, or order a purchase of the petitioning member’s interest instead of shutting the company down. That second option is often where these cases end, because dissolution destroys value for everyone. If the operating agreement already contains a deadlock sale mechanism and one side starts it before the court finds deadlock grounds, that contractual process takes the place of a judicial dissolution order, so the drafting of the agreement can decide the path.

Corporations work somewhat differently. In a shareholder’s dissolution proceeding, the corporation or the remaining shareholders may elect to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value, which is a way to avoid dissolution. If the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days after the first election is filed, the court enters an order directing the purchase on those terms; otherwise the court sets fair value. The corporation must notify the other shareholders within 30 days of the filing that they may avoid dissolution by electing to buy, and an election, once made, is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to set it aside. During the case the court can issue injunctions, appoint a receiver or custodian, and take steps to preserve assets while the business continues to operate. Filing for dissolution does not cost a shareholder the right to start a deadlock sale under a compliant shareholder agreement.

Partition and Quiet Title for Boynton Beach Property

Real estate co-ownership disputes follow their own procedure. Partition actions are brought in the circuit court’s equity side. The complaint must describe the land, name the owners and their residences, and state what share each holds. If the court orders partition, it appoints three commissioners, chosen by the court unless the parties agree. When they report that the land cannot be divided without prejudice to the owners, the court may order a public sale to the highest bidder and divide the proceeds by ownership share. 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.

Family property adds a wrinkle. Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act applies to partition cases filed on or after July 1, 2020. Property qualifies as heirs property when it is held in tenancy in common without a binding agreement on partition, at least one cotenant acquired title from a relative, and another listed condition is met, such as relatives holding twenty percent or more of the interests. In those cases the court must follow the Act’s procedures, which favor partition in kind unless commissioners find that dividing the land would prejudice the cotenants as a group. Anyone co-owning inherited property in Palm Beach County should know whether this framework applies before choosing a strategy.

Quiet title is the companion remedy when the problem is a cloud on ownership rather than a disagreement among co-owners. A plaintiff claiming legal or equitable title can ask the court to cancel a conveyance or other evidence of title held by someone who is not the rightful owner. The suit may be filed in any county where part of the land lies, and the plaintiff must trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise. A claim based on a fraudulent attempted conveyance can proceed on a summary track, with the court advancing the case on its calendar.

Practical Steps for a Boynton Beach Business Owner in a Dispute

Start with the documents. Pull the operating agreement, shareholder agreement, partnership agreement, or contract at issue, along with amendments, side letters, and the emails or texts that show how the parties actually behaved. In a contract case, wording and course of dealing frequently decide the outcome, so assemble both before the other side characterizes them for you. If money is involved, secure bank statements, tax returns, K-1s, ledgers, and accounting software access while you still have it. If you suspect funds are being diverted, speak with counsel quickly, because a court can enter emergency injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved while the case is pending, and that relief depends on acting before the damage is done.

Mind the clock. A claim founded on a written contract carries a five-year limitations period in Florida, while an oral or implied contract claim carries four years. A fraud claim runs four years from discovery, with an outer cap of twelve years. A suit for specific performance has only a one-year period, which surprises many people and is one reason a real estate contract dispute cannot wait. Negligence claims were cut to two years in 2023, and professional malpractice claims, including against a lawyer or accountant who advised the company, run two years from when the claim was or should have been discovered. Because these periods differ so sharply, the first conversation with a lawyer should pin down which one controls.

Know where the case will be heard. A Boynton Beach dispute is filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, and the main courthouse is in West Palm Beach, with a South County courthouse in Delray Beach nearby. Disputes up to the county court ceiling go to county civil court, and small claims remain a separate track for the smallest amounts; anything larger belongs in circuit court. If the other party or the property sits in Broward County, the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit applies, and it operates a complex business division for matters such as business entity dissolutions and large commercial litigation. Federal court in West Palm Beach or Fort Lauderdale is an option only when federal jurisdiction exists. Resist the instinct to confront a partner by email or to freeze them out of the books without advice; actions taken in anger can become exhibits against you, and unilateral lockouts can create claims of their own.

Finally, think about resolution early. Many disputes end through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, particularly where the operating agreement requires it. The decision is rarely whether to fight at all but how much to spend relative to what is at stake, and a candid early assessment of the claim’s value and the other side’s ability to pay is part of that judgment.

Questions Boynton Beach Business Owners Ask About 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 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?

It depends on your operating agreement and the partner’s conduct. Many agreements contain buyout, expulsion, or dissociation provisions, and Florida’s LLC statute gives the court remedies when a member has acted illegally or fraudulently, when assets are being wasted, or when the company cannot practicably function. Counsel should review the agreement before you act.

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

You may have claims for breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, conversion, and recovery of the funds. In urgent situations the court can issue an injunction preventing assets from being moved or spent while the case proceeds.

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

Five years in Florida for a claim founded on a written instrument. Oral or implied contract claims have four years, and a suit seeking specific performance has just one year, so the type of claim matters a great deal.

How does a partition action work?

A co-owner asks the circuit court to divide jointly owned property or, if division is not practical, to order a sale and split the proceeds in proportion to each owner’s interest. Commissioners appointed by the court evaluate whether the land can be divided fairly.

Do I live too far away to hire your firm for a Florida dispute?

No. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who have business or real estate interests in South Florida, handles the local court appearances, and keeps you informed so you do not have to travel for every hearing.

Will a court simply dissolve my company if my partner and I disagree?

Not on disagreement alone. A court looks for specific statutory grounds such as unlawful conduct, misappropriation, or a true deadlock with threatened irreparable injury. Even then, a court-ordered buyout or a contractual deadlock sale may replace dissolution.

What happens if my operating agreement has a buy-sell or deadlock provision?

Those clauses often control the outcome. If a deadlock sale mechanism is started before the court finds deadlock grounds, it can take the place of a judicial dissolution order. How the clause is worded, and who triggers it first, can matter enormously.

Is a family business dispute handled differently from other partnership cases?

The legal claims are the same, but the approach is not. When siblings, parents and children, or in-laws share ownership, the relationships weigh on settlement options and timing, and the firm handles these matters with discretion while still protecting the client’s financial interests.

Can a lawsuit be avoided if I have a lawyer before a dispute starts?

Often, yes. The firm’s outside general counsel program lets a business have access to a litigator for contracts, compliance, and operating questions, and the firm can serve as the company’s registered agent. Fixing a poorly drafted agreement early is far cheaper than litigating it later.

Do you take referrals from other attorneys?

Yes. Many cases come from other lawyers, including out of state attorneys whose clients have Florida disputes and Florida attorneys who do not handle business litigation. The firm communicates with referring counsel throughout and respects the referring lawyer’s relationship with the client.

Business Litigation Representation Across Boynton Beach and Palm Beach County

The firm represents clients from Boynton Beach and the surrounding Palm Beach County communities, including Lantana, Hypoluxo, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge, Gulf Stream, and Briny Breezes along the coast, and Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Highland Beach, and Lake Worth Beach just to the south and north. Further inland and across the county, we serve owners and investors in Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Greenacres, Atlantis, Palm Springs, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, and Riviera Beach.

Because many South Florida businesses and properties straddle county lines, the firm also represents clients in Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, and neighboring communities. Partition, title, partnership, and contract disputes in these areas move through the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Judicial Circuits, and the firm appears in those courts for clients who live in Florida and for those who live in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut but own a share of the business or property here.

Speak With a Boynton Beach Business Litigation Law Firm Today

If a partner, co-owner, or counterparty has put your company, your investment, or your real estate at risk, the right time to talk to a Boynton Beach business litigation law firm is before positions harden and evidence disappears. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team will review your documents, explain which claims and deadlines apply, and recommend the path most likely to reach your goals efficiently, whether that is negotiation, mediation, arbitration, or the courtroom. Call to schedule a consultation and tell us what is happening.