Coconut Creek Business Transactions Attorney

A handshake deal on a Lowe’s Boulevard storefront lease, a buyout of a partner who wants out, or a vendor agreement that quietly shifts liability onto your company can all look fine on the day you sign. The problems tend to surface two years later, when the paper is the only thing anyone will argue about. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business transactions and the litigation that grows out of them for owners, investors, and families in Coconut Creek and throughout Broward County and Palm Beach County.

If you are looking for a Coconut Creek business transactions attorney, the real question is who drafts and negotiates your agreement with the dispute in mind. Coconut Creek sits right on the county line, which means a company based here may sign contracts governed by Broward courts while its customers, landlords, or co-owners sit across the line in Palm Beach County. Where a lawsuit would be filed, and which circuit hears it, is worth deciding before you sign anything, not after.

Deals fail in predictable ways: vague scope language, an operating agreement that says nothing about deadlock, a purchase contract with no clear closing mechanics, a personal guaranty nobody read closely. Good transactional work closes those doors early. When it is too late for that, the same firm that understands how agreements get drafted is the one best placed to argue what they mean.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Business Deals Around Coconut Creek

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families across Broward and Palm Beach Counties, including Coconut Creek, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and Fort Lauderdale. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, has spent 37 years in litigation, with a career built around complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders. That litigation background shapes how the firm approaches transactions: every clause is read for how it would hold up in front of a judge.

Mr. Schwartz was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989 and has practiced litigation in Florida since then. He earned his undergraduate degree at Emory University in 1986 and his law degree at the University of Miami in 1989. Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator, brings years of business and real estate experience in both state and federal courts. The firm practices as a true legal team, so everyone working on your matter knows the file, and a strict 24 hour return call policy applies when the attorneys are in court.

The firm’s results reflect that mix of deal knowledge and courtroom readiness. After a 5-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 came from a transaction that went wrong and a contract that was enforced as written.

The firm also serves as outside general counsel for businesses that want a litigator reviewing contracts and handling compliance questions before disputes start, including acting as the company’s registered agent. Many clients come through referrals from other attorneys, and the firm works with referring counsel throughout the matter. Andrew Schwartz puts the philosophy plainly: clients usually think they want the most aggressive lawyer available, but what they need is someone who acts as the situation requires and uses finesse when finesse will do.

Transactions and Disputes Coconut Creek Business Owners Bring to Us

• Purchase and Sale of a Business: Asset versus equity deals, representations and warranties, indemnity terms, and holdbacks. Disputes after closing often turn on what the seller disclosed and what the agreement says about it.
• Operating Agreements and Shareholder Agreements: Buy-sell provisions, transfer restrictions, voting thresholds, and deadlock mechanisms. A well-drafted agreement decides in advance how an owner exits; a silent one leaves it to a judge.
• Commercial Leases: Retail, office, and flex space leases for Broward and Palm Beach County businesses, including personal guaranties, default and cure provisions, and renewal options.
• Commercial Real Estate Contracts: Purchase and sale agreements, failed closings, and specific performance claims where a buyer or seller refuses to complete the deal.
• Loan Documents and Guaranties: Promissory notes, security agreements, and personal guaranties, which often carry exposure owners do not appreciate until a lender calls.
• Construction and Vendor Contracts: Scope, payment terms, change orders, and dispute provisions in contracts with contractors, suppliers, and service providers.
• Partnership and Member Breakups: Buyouts, valuation disputes, and judicial dissolution when co-owners cannot agree, including family businesses where relatives share ownership.
• Missing Funds and Fiduciary Claims: Diverted company money, unpaid distributions, commingled accounts, and requests for an accounting, with emergency injunctive relief when assets are at risk of being moved.

What to Do When a Deal Is Going Sideways

Start by pulling every document tied to the transaction: the signed agreement and all amendments, emails and texts discussing terms, invoices, bank records, and any correspondence since the problem began. Courts enforce what was written, and the history of how the parties actually dealt with each other often decides ambiguous language. Do not edit, delete, or “clean up” anything.

Watch the clock. Florida gives you five years to sue on a contract founded on a written instrument, and four years for oral or implied contracts. A fraud claim runs four years from discovery, with an outer limit of twelve years. A suit to rescind a contract has four years. A specific performance action has only one year, which catches deal parties off guard when a closing collapses and they spend months negotiating. Claims against professionals such as accountants or other advisers run two years from when the problem was or should have been discovered. Those periods can shorten what looks like plenty of time, so get the dates reviewed early.

Read the agreement for dispute provisions before you do anything else: notice and cure requirements, mediation or arbitration clauses, venue and governing law, and attorney fee language. A notice sent the wrong way, or a lawsuit filed in the wrong forum, can cost you leverage. If you are the one who may have defaulted, do not ignore a demand letter; responding carefully often keeps a dispute from becoming a case.

Where a case lands depends on the amount and the type of claim. Claims above the county court ceiling go to circuit court, and Coconut Creek is in Broward County, which is the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. Broward’s circuit has a complex business division that handles large business and construction litigation and certain business dissolutions, and a case can be filed directly into it under the circuit’s administrative order. Cases tied to Palm Beach County property or parties go to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. Federal court in the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, is an option when federal jurisdiction exists. If money or property is being moved, ask promptly about a temporary injunction; waiting weeks can leave nothing to recover.

Finally, think about whether litigation is the right tool. Many disputes resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and the firm is experienced in all three alongside courtroom work. The goal is the outcome that serves your objectives and budget, not a longer case for its own sake.

When a Business Deal Becomes a Partner Dispute

A large share of business transaction problems are really ownership problems. Two people buy a company or property together, the agreement says little about what happens if they stop agreeing, and the business stalls. Florida’s LLC statute gives members and managers several grounds to seek judicial dissolution: unlawful conduct of the company’s affairs, impracticability of carrying on in line with the operating agreement, illegal or fraudulent conduct by those in control, misappropriation or waste of assets, or a management deadlock that threatens irreparable injury. A court can appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order the company or other members to buy out the petitioner.

For corporations, a shareholder can ask a circuit court to dissolve the company on listed grounds, but the company or the other shareholders can often head that off by electing to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value. If the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days of the first election, the court enters an order on those terms. That election is generally irrevocable. The corporation must also notify the other shareholders of this option within 30 days after such a case begins. If the owners’ own agreement contains a deadlock sale provision, it can control instead of a court-ordered remedy, which is one more reason the drafting matters.

When co-owners hold real estate together, partition is the remedy of last resort. Florida courts can divide the land or order a sale and split the proceeds. Heirs property, meaning co-owned land passed down among relatives, follows special rules designed to protect family owners. These issues come up for former business partners, siblings, and investors who want out of a shared deal, and the firm handles partition, title disputes, and quiet title actions for them.

Questions Coconut Creek Business Owners Ask About Transactions and Contract Disputes

Do I need an attorney to buy or sell a small business?

Not legally, but a sale agreement allocates risk between buyer and seller for years afterward. Representations, indemnities, non-compete terms, and payment structures are where most post-closing disputes begin. A lawyer who also litigates knows which clauses actually fail under pressure.

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

Five years for a claim founded on a written instrument. Oral and implied contracts have four years. The 2023 changes to Florida’s limitations statute shortened negligence claims to two years but left the written contract period alone.

What is the deadline for a specific performance claim?

One year. When a buyer or seller refuses to close, the clock matters far more than most people expect, so do not let months of negotiation run it out.

Can a verbal agreement be enforced?

Sometimes. Oral contracts can be enforceable, but certain agreements, such as many real estate transactions, generally must be in writing, and proving the terms of an unwritten deal is difficult. Emails and texts often become the key evidence.

Which court would hear a contract dispute involving my Coconut Creek company?

That depends on the amount and the forum your contract selects. Smaller claims go to county court, larger ones to circuit court. For Broward County matters that is the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, and for Palm Beach County matters the Fifteenth. A contract’s venue clause can also move the dispute elsewhere, so check it first.

What is Broward’s complex business division?

It is a specialized division of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit that handles complex business disputes, including large commercial and construction cases and certain business entity dissolutions. Cases may be filed directly into it following the circuit’s administrative order procedure.

My partner is draining company accounts. What can I do right now?

You may have claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, and recovery of funds. In urgent cases a court can issue an injunction to freeze or protect assets while the case proceeds, and in an LLC or corporate dissolution case may appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing.

Our operating agreement does not mention deadlock. Are we stuck?

Not necessarily. Florida law allows a member or manager to seek judicial dissolution where deadlock threatens irreparable injury to the company, and a court can order a buyout instead. Negotiated separations are often faster and cheaper, though, and a lawyer can help structure one.

Can I enforce a contract if the other side is in New York or New Jersey?

Often yes. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with business or property interests in South Florida, and the dispute may be heard in Florida depending on where the deal was made, performed, or what the agreement says about venue.

Is outside general counsel worth it for a small company?

For many businesses, yes. Having contracts reviewed before signing and compliance questions answered as they arise is usually far cheaper than litigating a bad agreement. The firm’s program includes serving as your registered agent.

Will every contract dispute end up in court?

No. Many resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, especially when the agreement requires it. The right path depends on the contract language, the relationship between the parties, and what outcome you actually need.

Business Transactions Representation Across Coconut Creek and South Florida

The firm represents Coconut Creek businesses and owners, from the commercial corridors along Lyons Road and Lowe’s Boulevard to home-based companies throughout the city. Clients also come from neighboring Margate, Coral Springs, Parkland, Tamarac, Pompano Beach, and Deerfield Beach in Broward County, as well as Lauderhill, Plantation, Sunrise, and Fort Lauderdale.

Across the county line, the firm handles matters for owners and investors in Palm Beach County, including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth, West Palm Beach, and surrounding communities. Whether the contract was signed in Broward, the property sits in Palm Beach County, or your co-owner lives out of state, the firm handles the local court appearances and keeps you informed at each stage.

Speak with a Coconut Creek Business Transactions Lawyer Before the Deal Decides for You

Whether you are about to sign an agreement or are already in a dispute over one, a conversation with a Coconut Creek business transactions lawyer at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can clarify where you stand and what comes next. We will review the documents, explain the deadlines that apply, and recommend the most efficient route, whether that is renegotiation, mediation, or litigation. Call the firm to schedule a consultation.