Florida Business Litigation Attorney Referrals

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team takes business and real estate litigation matters from lawyers who need a trial-capable colleague in Palm Beach County, Broward County, and across South Florida. Many of those referrals come from out of state attorneys whose clients own companies or property here, and from Florida lawyers whose practices do not include contested business cases. If you are looking for Florida business litigation attorney referrals, whether as a lawyer handing off a file or as a business owner trying to find the right litigator, the first decisions you make will shape the rest of the case.

A referral is not just a name on a handoff email. The referring lawyer has a relationship with the client, knowledge of the client’s business, and a reputation tied to whoever takes the file. The receiving firm has to protect all three. That means early agreement on who communicates with the client, how often the referring lawyer is updated, and what happens if the dispute widens into areas like real estate title or injunctive relief.

Timing drives much of this. Florida’s limitations periods differ sharply depending on how the claim is framed, and a file that sits for months while a client looks for counsel can lose options it started with. Getting the case in front of a litigator quickly is often worth more than finding the perfect fit slowly.

What a Referring Lawyer Should Decide Before Handing Off a Florida Business Dispute

The first decision is whether the dispute is really a litigation matter yet. Some disagreements between co-owners are still negotiable, and a litigator who understands buyouts, valuation fights, and mediation can sometimes resolve them before a complaint is filed. Others involve money leaving the company or assets about to be sold, and those cannot wait for a negotiation to run its course.

The second decision is forum. Palm Beach County cases are heard in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit and Broward County cases in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, and the choice between them often follows where the company operates or where the property sits. The Seventeenth Circuit also maintains complex business divisions that handle matters such as dissolution of certain business entities and large business and construction disputes. Federal court in the Southern District of Florida is another possibility when the parties and claims support it, and the court sits in both Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

The third decision is who stays involved. Some referring attorneys want to remain co-counsel and stay close to the client. Others want a full handoff. Either is workable, but it should be settled at the outset, along with how fees are shared where the rules allow it and how the client is told about the arrangement.

Why Referring Attorneys Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm serving Palm Beach County, Broward County, and the rest of South Florida, including clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who have business or real estate 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 his work centered on complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders. He earned his undergraduate degree at Emory University in 1986 and his law degree at the University of Miami in 1989. He is joined by Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in state and federal courts.

For a referring lawyer, the working style matters as much as the résumé. The firm practices as a true legal team, so everyone on a matter knows the file and can answer when the client or the referring counsel calls. There is a strict 24 hour return call policy when the team is in court, and conference calls are scheduled at times that work for everyone. The firm communicates with referring counsel throughout the matter and respects the referring attorney’s relationship with the client.

The firm also handles the local court appearances for out of state clients, so they do not need to travel for every hearing. On the results side, a five-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court ended with a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract, the kind of outcome that comes from preparing a contract case down to the wording and the history of the parties’ dealings. The attorneys are also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and they look for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget rather than prolonging a case for its own sake.

Types of Florida Business and Real Estate Disputes Commonly Referred

• Business Divorce: Co-owners who cannot agree on management, buyouts, or valuation, including deadlocked LLCs and closely held corporations where one side wants out and the other wants to keep running the company.
• Partnership and Member Disputes: Breaches of operating and shareholder agreements, claims of breach of fiduciary duty, and minority owners who are being frozen out of decisions or distributions.
• Judicial Dissolution: Florida’s LLC statute allows a member or manager to seek dissolution on grounds such as deadlock with irreparable injury, misappropriation or waste of assets, or the impracticability of operating under the operating agreement. Corporate dissolution and court-supervised buyouts are available under the corporation statutes as well.
• Complex Contract Litigation: Purchase agreements, operating agreements, commercial leases, loan documents, and construction contracts, where the outcome often turns on exact contract language and course of dealing.
• Missing Funds and Accounting Claims: Unpaid distributions, diverted company money, commingled accounts, and managers who cannot account for funds, often paired with a request for emergency relief.
• Partition Actions: Co-owners of real property asking the court to divide it or order a sale, common among former business partners, heirs, unmarried couples, and investors who want out of a shared deal.
• Quiet Title and Title Disputes: Competing ownership claims and clouds on title, which Florida courts can resolve by determining title and removing the competing claim.
• Injunctions: Temporary and permanent injunctions, including emergency relief, to freeze assets or protect property and business interests while the case proceeds.

Deadlines and First Steps When a Florida Business Dispute Reaches a Litigator

Limitations periods set the clock, and they vary by claim. An action on a written contract generally has a five-year period, while a contract claim not founded on a written instrument has four. Fraud claims run four years from discovery, subject to an outer limit of 12 years. A suit seeking specific performance has a one-year period, which surprises lawyers who assume it follows the contract deadline. Professional malpractice claims carry two years from when they were or should have been discovered. Negligence claims also have a two-year period for causes of action arising after the 2023 amendments. Because a single set of facts can support several theories with different deadlines, the way a claim is pleaded affects how much time remains.

For a referring lawyer, the most useful first step is to send the governing documents together: the operating or shareholder agreement, any buy-sell or deadlock provisions, the contract at issue, and the correspondence that shows how the dispute developed. Deadlock sale provisions in an operating agreement can change the available path, and an initiated provision may apply in place of a court-ordered remedy, so it matters whether one has been triggered.

If money or property is at risk, say so on the first call. Florida courts can appoint receivers or custodians in dissolution proceedings and issue injunctions to preserve assets, but only after the proper showing and, for a receiver or custodian of an LLC, a hearing with notice to the parties. Gathering bank records, distribution histories, and evidence of transfers early makes that showing stronger.

Where the case is filed depends on the facts. Palm Beach County matters go to the Fifteenth Circuit, with the main civil courthouse in West Palm Beach, and Broward matters go to the Seventeenth Circuit, with its central courthouse in Fort Lauderdale. Circuit court generally hears claims above the county court limit, which has been raised in recent years, so smaller disputes may belong in county civil court. One common mistake is waiting to talk to a litigator until after a demand letter has gone out, when the letter itself may have tipped off the other side and given them time to move assets.

Questions Lawyers and Business Owners Ask About Florida Business Litigation Referrals

Does the firm accept referrals from attorneys outside Florida?

Yes. A good portion of the firm’s referral work comes from out of state lawyers whose clients have disputes in Florida. The firm handles the Florida filings and appearances and keeps the referring attorney informed throughout.

Can the referring attorney stay involved in the case?

That is a decision made at the start. Some referring lawyers prefer to remain in the loop as co-counsel, others hand off fully. The firm respects the referring attorney’s relationship with the client either way.

What kinds of cases does the firm take on referral?

Business divorces, partnership and LLC member disputes, complex contract cases, disputes over missing company funds, partition and title actions, and injunction matters, along with commercial and residential real estate litigation.

How quickly can a referral be evaluated?

The firm keeps a strict 24 hour return call policy, so an inquiry from a referring lawyer or a client gets a response promptly. Sending the key agreements and a short timeline of events speeds up the initial assessment.

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.

Is the deadline to sue the same for every business claim?

No. Written contract claims generally carry five years, oral or implied contract claims four, fraud four years from discovery, and specific performance only one year. The right deadline depends on how the claim is framed, which is why the file should reach a litigator before time runs short.

What happens if one LLC member is draining company money?

Possible claims include breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, conversion, and recovery of the funds. Misappropriation or waste of assets that causes injury is also a recognized ground for judicial dissolution of an LLC. Where assets are about to be moved, a court can be asked for injunctive relief.

Can a deadlocked LLC be dissolved by a court?

Florida law allows a member or manager to seek dissolution when managers or members are deadlocked, cannot break the deadlock, and irreparable injury to the company is threatened or occurring. If the operating agreement has a deadlock sale provision that is initiated before the court finds those grounds, that provision can apply instead of a dissolution order.

Do shareholders in a corporation have a buyout option instead of dissolution?

Yes. When a shareholder petitions for dissolution on certain grounds, the corporation or other shareholders may 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 can order the purchase on those terms.

Will my client have to travel to Florida for every hearing?

Generally no. The firm handles local court appearances and proceedings for out of state clients and schedules conference calls so clients can stay involved without repeated travel.

Does every referred dispute end up in a courtroom?

No. Many are resolved through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration. The attorneys have experience in all of those paths as well as trial work, and they pursue the route most likely to meet the client’s goals efficiently.

Is a partition action available to former business partners who co-own real estate?

Yes. A co-owner can ask the court to divide the property or, when division is not practical, order a sale at auction with proceeds split according to ownership interests. Heirs who inherited property together may fall under a separate statutory framework designed for heirs property.

Serving Business Litigation Clients and Referring Counsel Across South Florida

The firm’s referral work begins in Palm Beach County, where disputes arise among business owners and investors from Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, Riviera Beach, and West Palm Beach. Cases there are heard in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, with courthouse locations serving the northern, central, southern, and western parts of the county.

The firm also represents clients throughout Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Coral Springs, Parkland, Plantation, Sunrise, Hollywood, Davie, Pembroke Pines, and Weston. Broward matters proceed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, and some business disputes may be assigned to its complex business divisions.

Beyond the two counties, the firm works with attorneys and clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own companies, investment property, or a share of real estate in South Florida and need a Florida litigator to handle the local proceedings.

Florida Business Litigation Attorney Referral Inquiries Welcome

If you are a lawyer looking for a Florida business litigation attorney to take a dispute your practice does not handle, or a business owner whose attorney has pointed you toward South Florida counsel, the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is ready to talk. Call to discuss the facts, the documents, and the deadlines, and to work out how the referral should be structured so everyone’s role is clear from the start.