Broward County Breach of Contract Attorney

A breach of contract case is rarely about whether a promise was broken. It is about what the paper actually says, what the parties did afterward, and whether the deadline to sue is still open. A Broward County breach of contract attorney spends most of the case on those questions, not on the drama of the dispute itself. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles contract litigation for business owners, investors, and families in Broward County, Palm Beach County, and across South Florida.

The clock matters more than most people expect. Florida gives you five years to sue on a written contract but only four on an oral or implied one, and some related claims run far shorter. A specific performance claim, the remedy that forces a seller or buyer to actually close, carries just one year. Waiting while you try to work things out can quietly cost you the strongest remedy you have.

Contract disputes in Broward come from real estate closings that collapse, partners who stop honoring an operating agreement, leases that go sideways, and construction jobs that stall. Each one turns on language, and the way the parties behaved after signing.

Contract Disputes We Handle for Broward Clients

• Commercial Real Estate Purchase and Sale Contracts: Failed closings, missed contingencies, disputed deposits, and sellers or buyers who walk away. When money damages cannot replace a particular property, specific performance may be the right remedy, and it must be pursued within its short limitations window.
• Operating Agreement and Shareholder Agreement Breaches: Co-owners who ignore capital call provisions, voting thresholds, transfer restrictions, or buyout formulas. These disputes often overlap with fiduciary duty claims and, in the worst cases, judicial dissolution.
• Commercial Lease Disputes: Rent escalations, personal guaranties, improvement obligations, early termination, and default notices between landlords and business tenants. Residential tenancies follow separate statutory notice rules, so the type of lease matters from the first day.
• Loan and Financing Documents: Defaults, acceleration, guaranty enforcement, and disputes between private lenders and borrowers over what the note actually requires.
• Construction Contracts: Payment disputes, change orders, delay claims, and defective work between owners, developers, and contractors, including large projects that may be routed to Broward’s complex business litigation division.
• Purchase Agreements for Businesses: Misrepresentations about revenue, undisclosed liabilities, earn-out disagreements, and post-closing adjustments. Fraud claims can sit alongside the contract claim and carry their own deadline.
• Unpaid Distributions and Missing Money: Owners who are owed profits, or who suspect funds were diverted, commingled, or never accounted for. Remedies can include an accounting and, when assets are at risk of being moved, emergency injunctive relief.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Contract Litigation in Broward County

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm serving Broward County, Palm Beach County, and the rest of South Florida, including clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or property 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 contract enforcement and interpretation at the center of his work. He earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989.

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. That matters in contract work, because a dispute can land in state circuit court or federal court depending on the parties and the claims.

Contract cases are won on detail: the exact wording, the course of dealing, the emails that followed. The firm practices as a true legal team, so everyone working on your matter knows the file and can answer when you call. There is a strict 24 hour return call policy when we are in court or otherwise unavailable.

The firm’s results include a Broward County commercial real estate matter in which, after a 5-day bench trial, the Circuit Court issued a 32-page final judgment awarding our client specific performance of the contract. Our attorneys are also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and we look for the resolution that serves your goals and budget rather than stretching a case out for its own sake. Many matters also come to us as referrals from other attorneys, including out of state counsel whose clients have disputes in Florida.

What to Do When the Other Side Breaks the Contract

Start by pulling the signed agreement and every amendment, addendum, and exhibit. Then gather the correspondence: emails, texts, invoices, payment records, and anything showing how both sides actually performed. Courts look at the written terms first, but the history of dealings often decides close questions about waiver, modification, and intent. Do not delete anything, and do not edit documents to make them tidier.

Read the contract for notice and cure provisions before you send anything. Many agreements require written notice of default and a set period to fix the problem, and skipping that step can hand the other side an argument. Also look for a dispute resolution clause. If the agreement requires mediation or arbitration, that changes where the case is filed, or whether it is filed in court at all.

Mind the deadlines. Written contract claims have five years, oral or implied contract claims four, rescission four, fraud four from discovery with an outer limit of 12 years, and specific performance one. Professional malpractice claims, even when framed as contract claims, can run just two years from discovery. If you are close to any of these lines, do not wait for negotiations to play out.

Where you file depends on the amount at stake. County court in Broward hears claims up to the statutory ceiling, which is adjusted periodically, and circuit court hears larger ones. Broward’s Seventeenth Judicial Circuit sits in Fort Lauderdale, with regional courthouses in Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, and Plantation. Larger business disputes, including big construction and commercial cases, can be directed into the circuit’s complex business litigation division, which was set up for exactly that kind of case. Federal court in Fort Lauderdale is an option when jurisdictional requirements are met.

The most common mistake is making payments, accepting partial performance, or sending angry messages that muddy the record before talking to counsel. Another is assuming a handshake change to the deal will hold up against a written agreement that says changes must be in writing. A Broward County breach of contract lawyer can read the agreement, identify your strongest claim and your biggest exposure, and tell you whether to demand cure, negotiate, or file.

Remedies: What a Court Can Actually Give You

Most breach cases seek money damages, meaning the loss that flowed from the breach. But contract law offers other tools, and choosing the right one early shapes the whole case.

Specific performance orders a party to do what they promised, which makes sense for unique assets like a particular commercial property. Because the limitations period for that remedy is only one year, it is usually the first thing to evaluate in a failed real estate deal. Rescission unwinds the deal entirely and has a four-year window. Injunctions can freeze assets or stop a party from acting while the case is pending, and the firm regularly seeks emergency relief when money or property is at risk of disappearing.

When the dispute is between co-owners, the contract claim often travels with others: breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, or a request for judicial dissolution of an LLC or corporation. Florida’s statutes list specific grounds for dissolving an LLC, including owner deadlock that threatens irreparable harm and misappropriation of company assets, and they give courts tools like receivers and court-ordered buyouts. Matching the contract theory to the right companion claims is where careful pleading pays off.

Broward County Contract Dispute FAQs

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. Some related claims are shorter, including one year for specific performance and two years for professional malpractice claims. The deadline generally runs from when the breach occurred or the claim accrued, so identify that date early.

Does an oral agreement count as a contract?

Often yes, though proving its terms is harder. Florida allows suit on oral and implied contracts within a four-year period, but certain categories of agreements must be in writing to be enforceable. Texts, emails, and payment history can fill in the gaps.

Which court will hear my case in Broward County?

It depends on the amount in controversy. County court handles mid-sized claims up to a ceiling that is adjusted periodically, small claims courts handle the lowest amounts, and circuit court handles larger disputes. The Seventeenth Judicial Circuit covers Broward County, and some complex business cases can be directed to its complex business division.

Can I be forced to close on a commercial real estate deal?

In appropriate cases, yes. A court can order specific performance, requiring a party to complete the transaction, when money alone would not make the other side whole. The remedy has a one-year limitations period, so it should be evaluated immediately after a failed closing.

What if my contract has an arbitration clause?

Then the dispute may have to be resolved in arbitration instead of court, depending on the clause’s scope. Reading that language before filing is essential, because litigating in the wrong forum wastes time and money. Our attorneys handle both arbitration and courtroom litigation.

Can I recover attorney fees if I win?

Only if the contract or a statute provides for it. Many commercial agreements include a prevailing-party fee clause, which cuts both ways, since you may owe the other side’s fees if you lose. We review that provision before recommending a course of action.

What if the other side says we changed the contract verbally?

Many agreements say modifications must be in writing, and that clause can limit the argument. But conduct, repeated acceptance of late performance, and later written communications can still create waiver or modification issues. These fights turn on the specific wording and the history between the parties.

My business partner stopped paying me my share. Is that a contract claim?

Often it is, along with possible fiduciary duty and accounting claims. Your operating or shareholder agreement defines distribution rights, and a partner who diverts or cannot account for company money may face broader claims. When assets are at risk, a court can be asked for injunctive relief while the case proceeds.

How long does a contract case take in Broward County?

It varies widely with the size of the dispute, the court, and whether the other side cooperates in discovery. Many cases settle through negotiation or mediation before trial, while contested matters, including those that go to a multi-day bench trial, take considerably longer. We will give you a realistic outlook once we have reviewed the documents.

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

Often, a consultation is worth it even if you ultimately handle it yourself. A demand letter from counsel can resolve a dispute quickly, and a review of the agreement may reveal that your claim is stronger, or weaker, than you assumed. We aim for resolutions where the cost makes sense against what is at stake.

I live out of state but my contract is tied to Broward County. Can you handle it?

Yes. We regularly represent clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with South Florida business or real estate interests. We handle the local court appearances and keep you informed, so you do not need to travel for every hearing.

Serving Contract Litigation Clients Across Broward County and South Florida

Our work for Broward County clients reaches Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Coral Springs, Plantation, Sunrise, Davie, Miramar, Pembroke Pines, Weston, Coconut Creek, Margate, Tamarac, Lauderhill, Oakland Park, Wilton Manors, Dania Beach, Hallandale Beach, and Lighthouse Point. Business owners in these communities come to us with lease fights, failed closings, partner disputes, and construction payment claims.

We also serve clients in neighboring Palm Beach County, including Boca Raton and West Palm Beach, as well as clients elsewhere in South Florida. Many of our clients live out of state but own businesses or investment property in the region, and we represent them in the local courts so their interests are protected from wherever they are.

Talk to a Broward County Breach of Contract Lawyer

If someone has broken an agreement that your business, your investment, or your property depends on, the first conversation should happen before the deadline gets closer. Our Broward County breach of contract lawyers will read the agreement, tell you plainly where you stand, and recommend the path most likely to reach your goal at a sensible cost.

Call the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team to schedule a consultation. We answer the phone, and if we are in court, you will hear back within 24 hours.