Broward County Business Attorney

A partner stops answering emails, the books no longer reconcile, and a contract you signed years ago is suddenly being read in a way nobody intended. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate litigation for owners, investors, and families throughout Broward County and the rest of South Florida, and a Broward County business attorney is often the person standing between a dispute and the loss of a company or a property.

Disputes among co-owners rarely stay quiet. They freeze bank accounts, stall closings, and push employees and customers to pick sides. In Broward, these cases land in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for the county and has a complex business division set up for large commercial disputes, entity dissolutions, and big construction litigation. Knowing how that court sorts and moves a case is part of handling one well.

What a Broward Business Attorney Handles When Owners Fall Out

The work divides into a few recurring problems: owners who cannot agree, contracts that are being broken or misread, money that has gone missing, and real estate that several people claim an interest in. Each calls for a different remedy, and picking the wrong one early can cost months.

Take the ownership fight first. Florida’s LLC statute lets a member or manager ask a circuit court to dissolve the company on specific grounds: the activities are being conducted unlawfully, it is no longer reasonably practicable to operate under the articles and operating agreement, controlling members are acting or are expected to act illegally or fraudulently, assets are being misappropriated or wasted, or the owners are deadlocked and irreparable injury to the company is threatened or already occurring. A court can also appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing, or order the company or other members to buy out the petitioner.

Corporations work differently. A shareholder petition for judicial dissolution can trigger an election by the company or the other shareholders to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value. If the sides agree on value and terms within sixty days after the first election is filed, the court enters an order on those terms. Such an election is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to set it aside. A buyout clause in a shareholder agreement may also be available and is not cut off by filing the petition.

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

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in some of South Florida’s hardest business and real estate disputes, serving clients in Fort Lauderdale and across Broward County as well as Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and Palm Beach County. Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, has spent 37 years in litigation and was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989. He holds an undergraduate degree from Emory University (1986) and a law degree from the University of Miami (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. That matters in Broward, where a dispute can end up in the Seventeenth Circuit or, depending on the parties and claims, in the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in Fort Lauderdale.

The firm works as a true legal team, so everyone on a file knows it and can answer when you call. A strict 24 hour return call policy applies when the attorneys are in court. The firm is experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and it looks for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget instead of stretching a case out.

The record includes a result directly on point for commercial property disputes. After a five-day bench trial, a Broward County circuit judge issued a 32-page final judgment on May 15, 2024, awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. Specific performance is a narrow remedy with a short fuse, since the limitations period for that action is one year, so the case shows why speed and preparation matter.

Business Disputes a Broward County Business Lawyer Takes On

• Business Divorce and Member Disputes: Deadlocked management, valuation fights, buyouts, breaches of operating or shareholder agreements, and breach of fiduciary duty among partners, members, and minority owners.
• Complex Contract Litigation: Purchase agreements, operating agreements, commercial leases, loan documents, and construction contracts, where the outcome often turns on exact wording and the parties’ course of dealing.
• Missing Funds and Accounting Claims: Unpaid distributions, diverted company money, disputed capital contributions, and commingled accounts, with claims for an accounting and recovery of the funds.
• Injunctions and Emergency Relief: Temporary and permanent injunctions to stop assets from being moved or spent, or to protect property and business interests while the case proceeds.
• Partition Actions: Co-owners of Broward real estate who cannot agree can ask the court to divide the property or order it sold and the proceeds divided. These arise among former business partners, heirs, and unmarried couples.
• Quiet Title and Title Disputes: Suits to remove a cloud on title or resolve competing ownership claims, which may be filed in any county where part of the land sits.
• Family Business Conflicts: Siblings who inherited a company, parents and children with different plans, or in-laws who share ownership, handled with discretion.
• Real Estate and Landlord-Tenant Matters: Failed closings, purchase and sale disputes, and commercial or residential landlord and tenant conflicts.

What to Do Before a Broward Business Dispute Gets Filed

Start by pulling the documents: the operating agreement or shareholder agreement, the contract in dispute, bank statements, tax returns, and the emails that show who agreed to what. If you suspect money is leaving the company, save statements before anyone has a reason to alter them.

Then check the clock. A claim on a written contract has five years under Florida law, while an oral or implied contract claim has four. A fraud claim runs four years from discovery, with an outer limit of twelve years. Rescission has four years. Specific performance has just one year, so a buyer or seller trying to force a real estate closing cannot wait. Professional malpractice claims, including against an accountant or other professional advisor, carry two years from when the claim was or should have been discovered.

Next, decide whether emergency relief is needed. If a partner is draining accounts or selling assets, an injunction request cannot sit while you hope for a phone call. If the problem is slower, a negotiated buyout or mediation may serve you better and cost less.

On venue, a Broward case usually belongs at the Central Judicial Complex in Fort Lauderdale or one of the regional courthouses in Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, and Plantation. Amounts above the county court ceiling go to circuit court. Cases that qualify as complex business matters can be directed to the Seventeenth Circuit’s complex business division through its administrative order, with the Clerk randomly assigning the case to a division. Federal claims go to the Southern District of Florida in Fort Lauderdale.

Common mistakes are predictable. Owners confront a partner before securing evidence, sign a buyout without a valuation, or let a short deadline pass while negotiating. Talk to a Broward County business litigation lawyer before you send the demand letter, not after.

Partition, Title, and Co-Owner Fights Over Broward Property

All partition actions in Florida are brought in chancery. The complaint has to describe the land, name the owners and where they live, state what each owns, and include anything else the court needs to decide the parties’ rights. When judgment of partition is entered, the court appoints three commissioners, chosen by the court unless the parties agree. If the commissioners report that dividing the land would prejudice the owners, the court may order a sale at public auction and split the proceeds by ownership share. A sale on credit is possible for good cause, but at least one-third of the price must be paid down unless everyone consents otherwise.

Inherited property has its own track. Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act applies to actions filed on or after its effective date and governs when land is held as tenants in common, a cotenant got title from a relative, and further conditions are met, such as relatives holding twenty percent or more of the interests. Partition in kind is only entered when the commissioners have weighed the statutory factors and found that dividing the land would prejudice the cotenants as a group.

Quiet title cases rest on Chapter 65. A plaintiff generally has to trace title back at least seven years before filing, unless the court orders otherwise. Adverse possession claims have their own rules: seven years of actual, continuous possession under a claim of title, and for color-of-title claims the instrument must be recorded in the county where the land lies.

Common Questions About Hiring a Broward County Business Attorney

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 partner out of my Florida LLC?

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

What can I do if a partner is taking company money?

You may have claims for breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, conversion, and recovery of the funds. Where assets are at risk of being moved or spent, a court can issue injunctive relief while the dispute is pending.

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

Five years for a contract founded on a written instrument. An oral or implied contract has four years. The 2023 change that shortened the negligence period to two years did not alter the written-contract period.

Does every business dispute end up in court?

No. Many resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration. The firm is experienced in all of them and picks the route most likely to reach your goals efficiently.

When does a Broward business case belong in circuit court rather than county court?

County civil court hears claims in a middle band of amounts, and circuit court takes disputes above that ceiling. Small claims sit below it. Any case seeking equitable relief such as an injunction, dissolution, or partition belongs in circuit court regardless of the dollar figure.

Is there a special court for large business cases in Broward?

The Seventeenth Judicial Circuit has a complex business division that handles business entity dissolutions, large commercial and construction cases, and similar matters. A case can be directly filed there under the circuit’s administrative order, and the Clerk then assigns it randomly to a division.

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

Under Florida’s LLC statute, if a deadlock sale provision is initiated before the court finds deadlock grounds exist, that provision applies in place of a judicial dissolution order or a court-ordered buyout, as long as it is then carried through. The timing of who triggers it first can matter a great deal.

Can a court appoint someone to run the company while the case is pending?

Yes. In an LLC dissolution case, a court that finds sufficient merit can appoint a receiver or custodian after notifying the parties and holding a hearing. In a corporate dissolution case, the court can also issue injunctions, appoint a receiver, and keep the business running until a full hearing.

I live in New York or New Jersey. Can you handle my Broward dispute?

Yes. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who have business or real estate interests in South Florida. It handles the local court appearances so you do not need to travel for every hearing.

My lawyer is not a business litigator. Do you take referrals?

Yes. A significant part of the practice comes from other attorneys, including out of state lawyers whose clients have Florida disputes. The firm keeps referring counsel informed and respects their relationship with the client.

Can a landlord end a commercial or residential tenancy quickly for unpaid rent?

For nonpayment under Florida’s landlord-tenant statute, a written demand starts a three-day period, excluding weekends and court-observed holidays. If the default continues, the landlord may terminate. Accepting partial rent after posting does not waive the right to terminate, but the landlord must follow one of the statute’s procedures for handling it.

Serving Broward County Business Clients From Fort Lauderdale to the County Line

The firm’s Broward work starts in Fort Lauderdale, where the Central Judicial Complex and the federal courthouse sit, and extends through Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Lighthouse Point, Oakland Park, Wilton Manors, and Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. It reaches west into Plantation, Sunrise, Davie, Weston, Tamarac, Coral Springs, Parkland, and Coconut Creek, and south through Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Dania Beach, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, and Cooper City.

Clients in neighboring Palm Beach County, including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, West Palm Beach, and the communities around them, are served as well, as are New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut owners whose partners or property are in South Florida. Wherever the dispute began, the court that decides it is usually the Seventeenth Circuit for Broward cases and the Fifteenth Circuit for Palm Beach cases.

Talk With a Broward County Business Litigation Attorney

If a partner, co-owner, or contract counterparty has put your company, your investment, or your property at risk, the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review where you stand and what to do first. A Broward County business litigation attorney from the firm will tell you plainly whether the case calls for a negotiated exit, an emergency injunction, or a lawsuit. Call to schedule a consultation.