Dania Beach Breach of Fiduciary Duty Attorney

The goal in a fiduciary duty case is usually concrete: get the money back, stop the person in control from doing more damage, and put the business or property on solid footing again, whether that means a buyout, a clean separation, or a court order holding someone accountable. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team helps business owners, investors, and family co-owners pursue those outcomes, and as a Dania Beach breach of fiduciary duty attorney team, we represent clients across Broward County and Palm Beach County whose partners, managers, or co-owners have put their own interests ahead of the company.

A fiduciary claim is different from an ordinary contract dispute. It arises when someone who was trusted to act for the benefit of others, such as a managing member of an LLC, a corporate officer or director, a general partner, or a majority owner, instead diverts funds, self-deals, hides information, or freezes out the people they owe duties to. These cases often depend on bank records, operating agreements, and the paper trail of who knew what and when, and they frequently require fast action before assets disappear.

Dania Beach sits in the middle of a busy commercial corridor, with marine businesses, hospitality ventures, small manufacturers, and investment real estate all within a short drive of Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood. Those closely held companies are exactly the kind of businesses where one person tends to control the books, and where a breakdown in trust can leave minority owners without information or recourse.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Fiduciary Duty Disputes

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm serving Broward County, Palm Beach County, and South Florida. Andrew M. Schwartz has spent 37 years in litigation, was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989, and earned his undergraduate degree at Emory University and his law degree at the University of Miami. His career has centered on complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders, which is the territory where fiduciary breaches usually surface.

Andrew is joined by Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts. That matters here, because fiduciary claims sometimes carry related federal issues or end up in federal court. The firm works as a true legal team, so everyone on a file knows it, and clients are not left waiting for the one lawyer who understands their case. We keep a strict 24 hour return call policy when we are in court or otherwise unavailable.

The firm has also tried cases to judgment. After a five-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court, the court entered a 32-page final judgment awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. We mention it because fiduciary cases, like that one, turn on detailed records and credible testimony in front of a judge. We are also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and we look for the resolution that fits a client’s goals and budget rather than stretching a case out for its own sake. Many of our clients are out-of-state owners with South Florida interests, and we handle the local court appearances so they do not need to travel for every hearing.

Situations That Give Rise to a Fiduciary Duty Claim

• Diverted or Missing Company Funds: A manager or partner moves money into personal accounts, pays personal expenses through the company, or cannot explain where distributions went. Remedies can include an accounting, recovery of the funds, and emergency relief to stop further transfers.
• Self-Dealing Transactions: The person in control sells company assets to themselves or a relative below value, steers contracts to an affiliated business, or leases property to the company on unfair terms.
• Freeze-Outs of Minority Owners: Majority owners cut off a minority member from information, meetings, or distributions, or change compensation to starve the company of profit while paying themselves.
• Breach of Operating or Shareholder Agreements: Duties that appear in the governing documents, such as restrictions on competing, limits on managers’ authority, or required approvals, are ignored by the person running the business.
• Usurped Business Opportunities: A partner takes an opportunity belonging to the company, such as a lease, customer, or deal, and pursues it for personal gain.
• Family Business Betrayals: Siblings, parents, children, or in-laws who co-own a company disagree over control and compensation, and one side uses its position to take more than its share. These cases call for discretion alongside firm financial protection.
• Co-Owned Real Estate Misconduct: A co-owner or manager of investment property collects rents, takes loans against it, or makes decisions without accounting to the others, which can lead to claims alongside partition or title actions.
• Deadlock and Waste of Assets: Owners cannot agree while assets are being wasted or misappropriated, which can support judicial dissolution, a receiver or custodian, or a court-ordered purchase of the petitioner’s interest.

What to Do When You Suspect a Partner or Manager Is Breaching Their Duties

Start by preserving evidence, quietly and lawfully. Gather the operating agreement or shareholder agreement, articles of organization or incorporation, tax returns, financial statements, bank statements you are entitled to see, loan documents, and any emails or texts that show how decisions were made. Do not take confidential records you have no right to access; a lawyer can help you request them through proper channels, including your statutory and contractual information rights as a member or shareholder.

Pay attention to timing. Florida sets different filing deadlines depending on how a claim is framed. A claim founded on a written instrument has a five-year period, while claims that are not based on a written instrument, and many intentional-tort and rescission theories, carry four years. A fraud claim runs four years from discovery, with an outer limit of twelve years. Negligence-based claims are now limited to two years, and professional malpractice claims have their own two-year period running from when the problem was or should have been discovered. Because a single set of facts can support several theories with different clocks, delay can quietly eliminate options.

If money is actively leaving the company, speak with counsel before the next transfer, not after. Courts can issue temporary injunctive relief to freeze assets, and in an LLC dissolution case a judge can appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing. Avoid confronting the other owner in writing in ways that tip them off, avoid retaliating by locking them out of accounts or emptying the company’s funds yourself, and avoid signing new agreements, releases, or buyout papers until you understand what they give up.

On the court side, these cases are filed in circuit court. For Dania Beach businesses, that is typically the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in and for Broward County, which sits at courthouses in Fort Lauderdale and in regional locations such as Hollywood. The Seventeenth Circuit also has complex business divisions that handle matters such as dissolution of certain business entities and large business litigation, and a case can be filed directly into one of those divisions under the circuit’s administrative order. Where the dispute centers on property or an entity tied to Palm Beach County, the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in and for Palm Beach County may be the proper venue. Cases with federal claims or diversity may belong in the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Claims above the county court ceiling belong in circuit court, which is where most fiduciary cases land.

Remedies When the Relationship Cannot Be Repaired

Winning on liability is only part of the picture; the remedy has to fit the business. In some cases the right result is money: an accounting to trace what was taken, recovery of diverted funds, and damages for the harm done. In others it is structural. Under Florida’s LLC statute, a member can ask a court to dissolve the company when assets are being misappropriated or wasted and injury results, when controlling managers or members have acted or are expected to act illegally or fraudulently, when it is not reasonably practicable to carry on the business under the operating agreement, or when owners are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened. In that kind of proceeding, the court can appoint a receiver or custodian or order a purchase of the petitioning member’s interest instead of shutting the company down.

Corporations have a parallel framework. A shareholder can seek judicial dissolution on statutory grounds, and the corporation or the other shareholders can elect to buy out the petitioner at fair value rather than face dissolution. If the sides agree on value and terms within 60 days after the first election is filed, the court enters an order directing the purchase; otherwise the court sets fair value. The election is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to set it aside. Courts in these proceedings can also issue injunctions and take steps to preserve corporate assets while the case proceeds. Many operating and shareholder agreements contain their own deadlock-sale or buyout provisions, and whether those apply, and when they must be triggered, can change the entire strategy.

The right path depends on what you want from the business. Some clients want out at a fair price; others want the offending partner removed or the company preserved. Settling through mediation or a negotiated buyout is often the best result when the numbers support it, and litigation is the leverage that makes a fair settlement possible.

Common Questions About Breach of Fiduciary Duty Claims

What is a breach of fiduciary duty?

It occurs when someone who owes a duty of loyalty or care to a company or its owners acts against those interests, for example by taking company money, hiding material information, or favoring themselves in a transaction. The duty can come from the person’s role, such as manager, officer, director, or partner, and from the governing documents.

Who can owe fiduciary duties in a business?

Managers and managing members of LLCs, corporate officers and directors, general partners, and in some circumstances controlling shareholders or members can owe duties to the company and to other owners. The precise scope depends on the type of entity, the governing agreement, and the facts, which is why reviewing your documents early is important.

How long do I have to file a fiduciary duty claim in Florida?

It depends on how the claim is framed. Claims founded on a written instrument have five years; intentional-tort style and unwritten contract claims generally have four; fraud runs four years from discovery with a twelve-year cap; negligence-based claims have two years. Because one dispute can involve several theories, an attorney should evaluate the deadlines before you wait.

Can I recover money my partner took from the company?

Often, yes. Depending on the facts, remedies can include an accounting, damages, recovery of diverted funds, and equitable relief. In urgent situations, a court can order injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved or spent while the case is pending.

Do I need to prove my partner intended to steal?

Not always. Self-dealing, undisclosed conflicts, and failures to account can support a claim without proof of a scheme to steal. Intent can matter for certain remedies and related claims such as fraud or conversion, but the core question is whether the fiduciary acted against the duties they owed.

Can a court remove a manager or break up a company over this?

In appropriate cases, yes. Florida’s LLC and corporate statutes allow judicial dissolution on specified grounds, including misappropriation or waste of assets and deadlock with irreparable injury, and courts can appoint a receiver or custodian or order a buyout. These are significant remedies and require a hearing, so the evidence has to be strong.

What if my operating agreement says nothing about fiduciary duties?

Silence does not always mean there are no duties. Florida law supplies default duties for many roles, though operating agreements can modify some of them within limits. A lawyer should read the full agreement, including any buyout, deadlock, or dispute resolution clauses.

Can a minority owner bring a claim if the company is controlled by someone else?

Yes. Minority members and shareholders are frequent claimants, and they may bring claims on their own behalf, on behalf of the company, or both, depending on the harm. Information rights, accounting claims, and buyout remedies are often central to these cases.

Does my dispute have to go to court?

No. Many disputes resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and some agreements require arbitration. Our attorneys have experience in all of these, and we choose the path most likely to meet your goals efficiently while preserving the ability to seek emergency relief when needed.

I live in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut and co-own a South Florida business. Can you handle this?

Yes. We regularly represent clients from the tri-state area whose partners or co-owners are in South Florida. We handle the local court appearances and keep you informed at each stage, so you do not need to travel for every hearing.

Will it be worth the cost to sue a partner?

That depends on the amount at stake, the strength of the records, and whether the other side can pay or the company has assets to protect. We discuss cost against realistic outcomes up front, and we look for resolutions that make financial sense rather than fees that outweigh the benefit.

Serving Fiduciary Duty Clients From Dania Beach Across South Florida

From Dania Beach itself, our team represents business owners and investors throughout Broward County, including Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Oakland Park, Pompano Beach, Lauderhill, Plantation, Sunrise, Coral Springs, Tamarac, Deerfield Beach, and Lighthouse Point. These communities support a wide mix of closely held companies, from marine and hospitality ventures to professional practices and real estate partnerships, where fiduciary conflicts tend to arise.

We also serve clients throughout Palm Beach County, including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth Beach, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, and Wellington, as well as owners across South Florida and clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut whose business or real estate interests are here. Whether the company, the property, or the other owner is in Broward or Palm Beach County, we handle the dispute in the courts where it belongs.

Speak With a Dania Beach Fiduciary Duty Attorney

If a partner, manager, or family co-owner has misused their position and your business, investment, or property is at risk, talk with a Dania Beach fiduciary duty attorney at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team before more money moves or deadlines pass. Call us to discuss what happened, what documents you have, and which options fit your goals. We will tell you plainly what the evidence supports and how we would approach it.