Boynton Beach Partnership Dispute Attorney

When the person you built a company with stops answering questions about the books, or starts making decisions without you, the problem is rarely just personal. It is a question of who controls the business, who owns what, and how fast the damage can be stopped. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate litigation for owners, investors, and families across Palm Beach County and Broward County, and a Boynton Beach partnership dispute attorney from our team can step in when co-owners in Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Boca Raton, and the surrounding communities can no longer resolve a conflict on their own.

Partnership disputes in this part of South Florida tend to grow out of a recognizable set of facts: a marine services company or medical practice where one owner brought in the clients and the other ran the money, a real estate holding entity owned by former friends, a family business passed to siblings with different ideas about its future. The legal path depends heavily on how the business is organized. A general partnership, an LLC, and a corporation each carry different rules about management, buyouts, and dissolution, and the document that governs the relationship, whether an operating agreement, shareholder agreement, or partnership agreement, often decides the outcome before anyone files a complaint.

The decision that matters first is usually whether you are trying to repair the business, leave it with fair value, or force the other side to stop doing something harmful right now. Those goals lead to different filings, different timelines, and different costs, so settling on one early shapes everything that follows.

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

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm serving clients throughout Palm Beach County, Broward County, and South Florida, along with clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or real estate interests here. Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989 and has spent 37 years in litigation, with a career built around complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders. He earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989.

Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator, brings years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts. The firm practices as a true legal team, which means everyone working on a matter knows the file and can answer when a client calls. A strict 24 hour return call policy applies when attorneys are in court or otherwise unavailable, and scheduled conference calls are arranged at times that work for everyone involved.

For partnership disputes, results in real estate and contract cases matter because so many of these conflicts turn on the exact wording of an agreement. 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 outcome reflects the kind of detailed, document-driven trial preparation that partnership cases demand. The firm is also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and Andrew Schwartz’s stated approach is to act as the situation requires and use finesse when finesse will do, looking for a resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget rather than prolonging a case for its own sake.

Situations That Lead to Partnership and Co-Owner Litigation

• Deadlocked Management: Two equal owners who cannot agree on a major decision can freeze payroll, vendor payments, or a sale. Florida’s LLC statute lists deadlock, combined with threatened or ongoing irreparable injury to the company, as a ground for judicial dissolution.
• Buyouts and Valuation Fights: One owner wants out, or wants the other out, and the sides disagree sharply about what the company is worth. Operating agreements often set a formula, and when they do not, valuation becomes a contested issue of its own.
• Breach of Operating, Shareholder, or Partnership Agreements: Unapproved capital calls, ignored voting requirements, competing ventures, and violations of transfer restrictions are common triggers, and the claim usually rests on the precise language of the agreement.
• Breach of Fiduciary Duty: A managing partner who self-deals, steers opportunities to a side company, or hides information from the other owners may owe damages and can be challenged in court.
• Missing or Diverted Funds: Unpaid distributions, commingled accounts, personal expenses run through the company, and partners who cannot account for money support claims for an accounting and recovery, and sometimes emergency relief to freeze assets.
• Minority Owner Squeeze-Outs: Majority owners sometimes cut a minority member out of information, distributions, or decision-making. Florida law gives minority owners tools to respond, including dissolution proceedings and court-ordered purchases of their interest.
• Family Business Conflicts: Siblings who inherited a company together, parents and children with different visions, or in-laws sharing ownership face disputes about control and compensation that require discretion alongside firm protection of financial interests.
• Co-Owned Real Estate: When a partnership or former partners jointly own property and cannot agree on its use or sale, partition and title claims can resolve the standoff.

What to Do Right Now When a Business Partner Relationship Breaks Down

The most valuable early step is to gather and preserve the documents that define the relationship. That means the operating agreement or shareholder agreement, the articles of organization or incorporation, any amendments, capital contribution records, tax returns, bank statements, and the company’s financial reports. Make copies of what you legitimately have access to now, because access to company systems can change quickly once a dispute becomes open. Do not take or alter anything you are not entitled to see; the goal is to secure what is already yours to review, not to escalate the conflict.

Next, read your agreement for provisions that control how disputes get handled. Many contain mandatory mediation or arbitration clauses, buyout formulas, deadlock sale mechanisms, or notice requirements that must be followed before suing. Florida’s corporate and LLC statutes recognize that a deadlock sale provision in an agreement can take priority over a judicial dissolution order if it is initiated before the court finds that deadlock grounds exist, so the timing of your first move can matter a great deal. Skipping a required step can hand the other side an early procedural win.

Deadlines deserve attention immediately. A claim founded on a written agreement carries a five year limitations period in Florida, while contract claims not founded on a written instrument carry four years. A fraud claim runs four years from discovery, subject to a twelve year outer limit. An action seeking specific performance carries a one year period. Because the right deadline depends on what the claim is really about, an attorney should classify your claims early rather than guessing.

If money or assets are at risk, speed matters more than anything else. Courts can issue temporary and permanent injunctions and, in dissolution proceedings, appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing to preserve company assets. In a Florida corporate dissolution case the court can also issue injunctions and carry on the business until a full hearing. Waiting to see whether things improve can allow funds to leave and records to disappear.

Cases from Boynton Beach are generally filed in the Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Palm Beach County and handles claims above the county court ceiling. Disputes tied to Broward County properties or companies fall to the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which has complex business divisions for large business litigation and dissolution matters. Some disputes also belong in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. One of the more common mistakes owners make is to confront the other partner in writing before speaking with counsel, or to stop paying company obligations out of anger. Both can be used against you later.

How Florida Law Handles Dissolution, Buyouts, and Court Intervention

Florida gives owners several paths when a company cannot continue as it is. In an LLC, a member or manager can ask a circuit court to dissolve the company on specific grounds: the business is being run unlawfully, it is not reasonably practicable to operate 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 cannot break the deadlock while irreparable injury is threatened or occurring. When such a case has enough merit, the court may appoint a receiver or custodian or order that the petitioning member’s interest be purchased rather than shutting the company down.

For corporations, a shareholder can petition for dissolution on statutory grounds, and the corporation or other shareholders may elect to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value to avoid dissolution. The corporation must give the other shareholders notice of that option within 30 days of the proceeding starting. If the parties agree on fair value and terms within 60 days after the first election is filed, the court enters an order directing the purchase on those terms, and an election to purchase generally cannot be withdrawn unless the court finds it equitable to modify it. These mechanics reward owners who understand them early, because a buyout often delivers a cleaner exit than a liquidation.

When the partners also co-own real estate, a separate remedy may apply. Florida’s partition statutes allow a co-owner to ask the court to divide the property or, when division would harm the owners, to order a sale at public auction and split the proceeds in proportion to ownership. The court appoints three commissioners to evaluate the property, and for heirs property, special rules under the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act apply. Quiet title actions can clear competing ownership claims, and a plaintiff generally has to trace title back at least seven years.

Questions About Partnership Disputes in Boynton Beach

What is a partnership dispute attorney’s role compared to a general business lawyer?

A partnership dispute attorney focuses on conflicts between co-owners: enforcing or challenging buyout rights, pursuing claims for breach of fiduciary duty, seeking dissolution, and obtaining emergency relief. A general business lawyer often handles formation and contracts. When owners are already in conflict, litigation experience in the courtroom becomes the deciding factor.

Can I sue my business partner for taking company money?

Often yes. Depending on the facts, you may have claims for breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, conversion, and recovery of funds. If money is actively leaving the company, a court can order injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved or spent while the case proceeds.

How long do I have to file a lawsuit over a partnership agreement breach?

For a claim founded on a written agreement, Florida allows five years. Claims not founded on a written instrument carry four years, fraud runs four years from discovery with a twelve year cap, and specific performance actions carry one year. Because the correct period depends on how the claim is framed, you should not rely on a single number.

Can a court force the sale or dissolution of my company?

Yes, on defined grounds. For an LLC these include deadlock with irreparable injury, misappropriation or waste of assets, and conduct that makes it not reasonably practicable to carry on the business. For corporations, shareholders may petition on statutory grounds, and others may elect to buy the petitioner out instead.

What if our operating agreement says disputes go to arbitration?

Arbitration clauses are generally enforceable, and filing in court first can lead to a motion to compel arbitration. Our attorneys are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and the right forum depends on the clause and your goals.

What does a deadlock sale provision do?

Some agreements set up a mechanism, such as a buy-sell process, that lets one owner trigger a sale or buyout when the owners reach a stalemate. Under Florida’s LLC statute, if that provision is initiated before the court finds deadlock grounds, it can apply instead of a judicial dissolution order.

Can a minority owner protect themselves if the majority is freezing them out?

Minority owners have remedies, including claims for breach of fiduciary duty, access to company information, dissolution proceedings, and court-ordered purchase of their interest at fair value. The specific route depends on the entity type and the agreement.

My partner and I are family. Does that change how the case is handled?

The legal rights are the same, but the strategy often differs. Family business disputes frequently call for discretion, confidential negotiation, or mediation, while still protecting your financial position. Many families prefer a negotiated separation to a public trial.

Will my case be heard in Palm Beach County or Broward County?

That depends on where the defendants reside, where the business operates, and where the property sits. Claims tied to Boynton Beach businesses commonly proceed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, while Broward-based entities or property may be heard in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which maintains complex business divisions.

I live in New York or New Jersey. Can I handle this without moving to Florida?

Yes. We regularly represent clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold interests in South Florida businesses. We handle the local court appearances and keep you informed so you do not need to travel for every hearing.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer if I just want my partner to buy me out?

Often it is, because the price and terms of a buyout are negotiated against a background of legal leverage. Understanding your dissolution rights, valuation arguments, and claims against the other owner usually produces a better exit than negotiating without that context.

Serving Partnership Dispute Clients Across Boynton Beach and South Florida

Our Boynton Beach partnership dispute work extends well beyond the city itself. We represent owners in Boynton Beach and nearby Delray Beach, Lantana, Lake Worth Beach, Greenacres, Hypoluxo, Ocean Ridge, and Gulf Stream, as well as Boca Raton, Highland Beach, Wellington, and West Palm Beach. Across Palm Beach County, we also assist clients in Royal Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, and the communities between them. To the south, our work reaches Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, and neighboring cities. We also represent clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut whose business partners or co-owned property are located in South Florida.

Speak With a Boynton Beach Partnership Dispute Lawyer

When a partner relationship has turned into a threat to your company, your investment, or your property, the choices you make in the first weeks often shape the whole outcome. A Boynton Beach partnership dispute lawyer at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your agreement, explain your options for repair, buyout, or dissolution, and move quickly if assets are at risk. Call to schedule a consultation and talk through where your business stands.