Dania Beach Business Litigation Attorney

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in Dania Beach who are caught in disputes over a company, a contract, or a piece of real estate, and we handle those cases throughout Broward County and Palm Beach County. When you need a Dania Beach business litigation attorney, the first question is rarely “should I sue?” It is “what do I have to decide this week, and what can wait?”

Dania Beach sits between Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood, close to the airport, the port, the marine industry, and a long run of warehouses, restaurants, and small commercial properties. Many companies here are owned by two or three people, sometimes relatives, who built the business together and never fully planned for the day they would disagree. That day usually arrives as a locked bank account, a missing distribution, or a partner who stops answering calls.

Some of those decisions are deadline-driven, and some are about leverage. Whether to move for emergency relief, whether to offer a buyout, whether to keep operating while a dispute is open: each choice shapes the case that follows.

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

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm serving Dania Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and the rest of Broward and Palm Beach Counties. The firm represents owners, partners, LLC members, shareholders, investors, and families, and it also takes clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or property interests in South Florida. Our work centers on business divorce, partnership and member disputes, complex contract litigation, partition actions, title disputes, and injunctions.

Andrew M. He holds an undergraduate degree from Emory University (1986) and a law degree from the University of Miami (1989). His career has been built around 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.

The firm practices as a true legal team, meaning everyone working on your matter knows the file. We keep a strict 24 hour return call policy and schedule conference calls at times that work for everyone involved. We are also experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and we look for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget rather than stretching a case out for its own sake.

Results matter more than adjectives. After a 5-day bench trial, a Broward County circuit court issued a 32-page final judgment awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That outcome reflects the preparation we bring to cases that turn on contract wording and the history between the parties.

Business and Property Disputes We Handle for Dania Beach Clients

• Business Divorce: Co-owners who can no longer work together face deadlocked management, buyout negotiations, valuation fights, and sometimes judicial dissolution. Florida’s LLC statute lists grounds a court can act on, including deadlock with irreparable injury, misappropriated assets, and a company that cannot practicably operate under its agreement.
• Partnership and Member Disputes: Claims between partners, LLC members, and minority owners over breached operating or shareholder agreements, who is contributing what, and whether one owner is acting in his or her own interest.
• Family Business Conflicts: Siblings who inherited a company, parents and children with different plans, and in-laws who share ownership. These cases need discretion alongside firm protection of your financial position.
• Complex Contract Litigation: Purchase agreements, operating agreements, commercial leases, loan documents, and construction contracts, where the precise wording and the parties’ dealings decide the outcome.
• Missing Funds and Diverted Money: Unpaid distributions, commingled accounts, disputed capital contributions, and managers who cannot account for company money, pursued through accounting, fiduciary duty, and recovery claims.
• Partition and Title Disputes: Co-owners of real estate who cannot agree can ask a court to divide the property or order it sold. We also handle quiet title actions to clear competing ownership claims.
• Injunctions and Emergency Relief: Temporary and permanent injunctions, including early relief, to stop assets from being moved or spent while the dispute is pending.
• Real Estate Contract and Lease Disputes: Failed closings, purchase and sale disagreements, and landlord and tenant matters involving commercial and residential property.

What to Do Right Now When a Business Dispute Reaches a Breaking Point

Start by freezing the facts. Collect the operating or shareholder agreement, every amendment, bank statements, tax returns, ledgers, and the emails and texts that show what each side agreed to. Do it before anyone changes passwords or removes access. Do not alter, delete, or “clean up” records, even ones you think hurt you.

Next, read your agreement for exit mechanics. Many contain buyout formulas, notice requirements, or deadlock provisions. Florida law gives such provisions weight: if a deadlock sale provision under an LLC operating agreement is initiated before a court finds grounds for deadlock dissolution, that provision can take the place of a dissolution order or a court-ordered buyout. Starting down the wrong path can cost you that choice, so decide deliberately.

If money is leaving the company, treat it as urgent. A court can issue injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved or spent, and in dissolution proceedings it may appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing with notice to the parties. Moving fast on evidence of diversion often matters more than any other step.

Then watch the clock. In Florida, an action on a written contract generally has a five-year limit, while oral or implied contracts have four. Fraud claims run four years from discovery, with an outer cap of twelve years. A claim for specific performance has a one-year limit, which surprises many people. These periods are why waiting “to see how things shake out” can quietly end a claim.

Finally, choose your forum with your lawyer. Dania Beach is in Broward County, so cases are heard by the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County. Disputes above the county court ceiling go to circuit court, and Broward has complex business divisions that handle business entity dissolutions and large business and construction litigation. Matters with federal elements can land in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in Fort Lauderdale. One common mistake is accepting a partial payment or signing a quick “settlement” email without realizing it changes your position. Another is confronting a partner in writing before you have secured the records.

How Florida Law Handles Dissolution, Buyouts, and Partition

Judicial dissolution is a remedy of last resort, and Florida’s statutes build in off-ramps. For an LLC, a court asked to dissolve the company can instead order the purchase of the petitioning member’s interest. For a corporation, once a shareholder petitions on certain grounds, the company or the other shareholders can elect 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. An election to purchase is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to set it aside. The corporation must also notify the other shareholders of this buyout right within 30 days after the proceeding begins.

That structure makes valuation the real battleground. Whether you are the one asking to leave or the one trying to keep the company, the number is what the case is about, and the paper trail supporting it is built long before trial.

Partition follows its own rules. All partition actions in Florida are heard in chancery. The complaint must describe the land, name the owners and their residences, and state each owner’s share. If the court orders partition, it appoints three commissioners, and if the land cannot be divided without prejudice to the owners, the court may order a sale at public auction with proceeds split by ownership interest. A court that permits a sale on credit typically requires at least one-third paid down unless all parties consent otherwise. Inherited property has extra protection: under Florida’s heirs property act, qualifying property must be partitioned under special procedures that favor partition in kind or buyouts among cotenants before a forced sale.

Quiet title actions are the companion tool. A court can cancel a deed or other evidence of title that clouds ownership, and the plaintiff generally must trace title back at least seven years before filing unless the court orders otherwise. Suit can be filed in any county where part of the land lies.

Common Questions About Business Litigation in Dania Beach

Do I need a lawyer if my partner and I might still work things out?

A short consultation before talks break down can protect you. A lawyer can review your agreement, tell you what your leverage actually is, and help you negotiate without waiving rights. Many disputes settle, and settling from an informed position usually produces better terms.

Can I force a business partner out of my Dania Beach company?

It depends on your operating or shareholder agreement and on what the partner has done. Many agreements contain buyout, expulsion, or dissociation clauses, and Florida law provides remedies for serious misconduct or when a company can no longer function. We review the documents first and then explain which routes are open.

What can I do if a partner is taking money from the business?

You may have claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, and recovery of funds. When assets are at risk of being moved or spent, a court can enter injunctive relief to hold things in place while the case proceeds.

How long do I have to sue over a broken contract in Florida?

For a contract founded on a written instrument, five years. For an oral or implied contract, four years. Rescission also carries four years, and a specific performance action has one year. The right deadline depends on what claim you actually have, so confirm it early.

Does every business dispute end up in court?

No. Many resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration. We are experienced in all of them and in courtroom litigation, and we pursue the path most likely to meet your goals at a reasonable cost.

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 a court-ordered dissolution when owners cannot agree.

My partner and I are deadlocked and the company is losing money. Can a court step in?

Yes. A Florida court can dissolve an LLC when members are deadlocked, cannot break the deadlock, and irreparable injury to the company is threatened or occurring. The court can also appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order a buyout, when there is sufficient merit.

Can a shareholder avoid dissolution by buying the other side out?

Often, yes. When a shareholder petitions for dissolution on certain grounds, Florida law lets the corporation or other shareholders elect to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value. Fair value is frequently disputed, which is why valuation evidence matters.

Which court would hear my case if my business is in Dania Beach?

Dania Beach is in Broward County, so state court cases are filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. Larger business disputes go to circuit court, and certain complex business matters can be assigned to a complex business division. Some cases belong in the federal court in Fort Lauderdale.

I live in New York or New Jersey but own a share of a Broward property. Can you help?

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 have to travel for every hearing.

Can co-owners of real estate force a sale?

Generally, a co-owner can ask a court for partition. If the property cannot fairly be divided, the court may order it sold and divide the proceeds by ownership share. Inherited property is subject to additional protections under Florida’s heirs property provisions.

Do you work with other lawyers on referrals?

Yes. A significant part of our practice comes from other attorneys, including out of state lawyers whose clients have Florida disputes. We communicate with referring counsel throughout and respect that relationship.

Serving Business Litigation Clients From Dania Beach Across South Florida

We represent clients in Dania Beach and the neighboring communities of Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Davie, Pembroke Park, and Pembroke Pines. Our work extends through Broward County to Oakland Park, Wilton Manors, Plantation, Sunrise, Tamarac, Coral Springs, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Lauderhill, and Miramar.

We also serve clients throughout Palm Beach County, including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, and Wellington. Whether the dispute is a company in Dania Beach, an investment property in Broward, or a partner across the county line, our team handles the case from the first demand to trial, mediation, or settlement.

Talk With a Dania Beach Business Litigation Lawyer Today

If a partner, co-owner, or counterparty has put your company, investment, or property at risk, speak with a Dania Beach business litigation lawyer who knows what to decide first. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team will review your agreements, explain your options and deadlines, and tell you plainly whether the best path is negotiation, mediation, or court.

Call to discuss your situation. We return calls within 24 hours, and we can set up a conference call at a time that suits you.