Fort Lauderdale General Counsel for Businesses and Property Owners

The best outcome for a company is a dispute that never reaches a courtroom, and the cheapest lawsuit is the one a good contract or a timely phone call prevented. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team gives Fort Lauderdale businesses that kind of footing through its outside Fort Lauderdale general counsel services, backed by a litigation practice that handles business, partnership, contract, and real estate disputes across Broward County, Palm Beach County, and the rest of South Florida.

Outside general counsel is not a retainer for its own sake. It means a lawyer who already knows your operating agreement, your leases, your vendor contracts, and who your co-owners are, so that when a question or a conflict arises you are not starting from zero. For a company run by two or three owners, or a family business with more than one generation involved, that familiarity is often what separates a quiet fix from a court filing.

Why Fort Lauderdale Companies Bring a Litigator on as Outside Counsel

Most lawyers who serve as outside counsel draft documents and hope nothing goes wrong. A firm that tries cases reads those same documents differently. It asks how a judge would interpret a vague clause, what a former partner’s lawyer would do with a missing signature, and whether the company’s records would hold up when someone demands an accounting. That litigator’s eye is the core value of the general counsel arrangement at this firm.

Through its general counsel program, the firm serves as the company’s registered agent and helps with the contract, compliance, and operational questions that come up in running a business. The practical point is that the people reviewing your agreements are the same people who would defend them in Broward County Circuit Court, and they draft accordingly.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team as Your Outside General Counsel

The Andrew M. Founder Andrew M. Schwartz was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989 and has spent 37 years in litigation, with a career built around complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts between partners, LLC members, and shareholders. He holds an undergraduate degree from Emory University (1986) and a law degree from the University of Miami (1989). Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator, brings years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts.

The firm practices as a true legal team. Everyone working on your matter knows the file, so you reach someone who can actually answer when you call. There is a strict 24 hour return call policy when the team is in court or otherwise unavailable, and conference calls are scheduled at times that work for everyone involved. The attorneys are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and the firm looks for the resolution that fits a client’s goals and budget rather than stretching a case out.

The track record is concrete. After a five-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court, the firm’s client received a 32-page final judgment awarding specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. A company that retains this firm as general counsel is retaining the lawyers who win that kind of case, and who know early on what a contract needs to say to survive one.

What a General Counsel Relationship Covers for a Fort Lauderdale Business

• Contract Drafting and Review: Purchase agreements, commercial leases, loan documents, construction contracts, and vendor terms are written and reviewed with the question of how they would be enforced if the other side stopped performing.
• Operating and Shareholder Agreements: Buyout triggers, valuation methods, deadlock provisions, and expulsion clauses are far easier to negotiate while owners still get along. Florida’s LLC statute even gives a deadlock sale provision in the agreement priority over a judicial dissolution order if it is initiated before the court finds deadlock grounds.
• Registered Agent Service: The firm serves as the company’s registered agent, so lawsuits and official notices reach a legal team rather than a mailbox no one checks.
• Compliance and Operational Questions: The recurring day-to-day questions on entity housekeeping, owner authority, and what a manager may approve alone get answered before they become disputes.
• Family and Closely Held Business Governance: Siblings, parents and children, spouses, and in-laws who share ownership benefit from written rules on control, compensation, and succession, handled with discretion.
• Commercial Lease and Property Issues: Landlord and tenant questions, failed closings, and purchase and sale contract disputes are part of the firm’s real estate practice, including title and partition problems among co-owners.
• Early Warning on Disputes: When an owner starts withholding information, distributions stop, or money cannot be accounted for, counsel already familiar with the company can move toward an accounting claim or emergency injunctive relief quickly.

Decisions to Make Before a Business Problem Becomes a Lawsuit

Start with the documents. Gather your articles of organization or incorporation, the operating or shareholder agreement, major leases, loan paperwork, and any written side agreements between owners. Then decide honestly whether those documents answer the questions you are likely to face: what happens if an owner wants out, dies, or stops contributing, and how the company is valued if a buyout is needed. If they do not, that gap is the first thing to fix.

Next, decide who will be the company’s single point of contact with counsel, and keep records of money in and out. Commingled accounts and unexplained transfers are the facts that turn a disagreement into litigation. When something does go wrong, do not wait. Florida sets different deadlines for different claims: five years for an action on a written contract, four years for oral or implied contracts and for fraud measured from discovery, and only one year for a specific performance action. A claim you thought you had years to bring may have far less time.

If a dispute is already underway, decide early whether the goal is to repair the relationship, buy or sell an interest, or wind the company down. Each path calls for different tactics. Fort Lauderdale business cases above the county court limit are heard in the Circuit Court of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County, and the circuit maintains complex business divisions for large business disputes and certain entity dissolutions. Cases with federal grounds go to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in Fort Lauderdale. Knowing which forum applies shapes how a contract should be written in the first place, including its choice of forum and dispute resolution terms.

A final decision that gets overlooked: do not sign a buyout, release, or dissolution paper before a lawyer has read it. Under Florida’s corporate dissolution statute, for example, a purchase election at fair value can be irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to modify it, so a hasty move can lock you in.

When Owners Cannot Agree: Dissolution and Buyout Rules

Counsel’s job sometimes shifts from prevention to separation. For limited liability companies, Florida allows a manager or member to ask the circuit court for dissolution on specific grounds: unlawful conduct of the company’s affairs, the impracticability of operating under the agreement, illegal or fraudulent conduct by controlling owners, misappropriated or wasted assets that injure the company, or a deadlock among managers or members that cannot be broken while irreparable injury threatens the company. The court may appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing, or order a purchase of the petitioning member’s interest instead of dissolving.

For corporations, a shareholder may seek judicial dissolution on similar grounds, and the company or the other shareholders can elect to buy out the petitioner at fair value. If the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days after the first election is filed, the court enters an order on those terms. During the case, the court can issue injunctions and appoint a receiver or custodian to preserve assets. A well-drafted agreement sets these mechanics in advance, which is exactly why general counsel work before a dispute is so valuable.

Questions Fort Lauderdale Business Owners Ask About General Counsel

What does outside general counsel actually do?

Outside general counsel acts as the company’s ongoing legal advisor without being an employee. That includes contract review, compliance and operational questions, and serving as registered agent, so the company has a lawyer who already knows its structure and owners.

Is outside general counsel only for large companies?

No. It is most useful for businesses that need regular legal advice but cannot justify an in-house attorney. Small and mid-sized companies, family businesses, and investment entities often benefit most.

Why use a litigation firm as general counsel instead of a transactional lawyer?

Because contracts are tested in disputes. A lawyer who has tried contract cases knows which clauses hold up and which invite a fight, and drafts the agreement with that in mind.

Does the firm serve as our registered agent?

Yes, through its general counsel program the firm serves as the company’s registered agent, so legal notices go to people who know your file.

Can general counsel help prevent a partner dispute?

Often, yes. Clear buyout terms, valuation methods, decision-making rules, and deadlock provisions in the operating or shareholder agreement resolve many disagreements before anyone files suit.

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

For a claim founded on a written instrument the period is five years. An oral or implied contract claim has four years. A suit for specific performance has one year, which surprises many owners.

If my company’s contract is oral, is it still enforceable?

Often it can be, but proof becomes the problem. Oral deals turn on testimony and the history of dealings, which is why written agreements are far easier to enforce and why counsel pushes to document handshake deals.

What can we do if a co-owner is taking company money?

Remedies can include an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty claims, conversion claims, and recovery of the funds. In urgent cases a court can issue injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved or spent while the case is pending.

Do I need a Florida lawyer if I live in New York or New Jersey but own a South Florida business?

If the company, its co-owners, or the property are in South Florida, Florida law and Florida courts will likely control. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, handles local court appearances, and keeps them informed so they do not have to travel for every hearing.

Can outside counsel handle mediation instead of a lawsuit?

Yes. The attorneys are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and many business disputes resolve through those routes when the goal is to keep the company running and costs reasonable.

Which Broward court hears a large business dispute?

Disputes above the county court limit go to the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County. Larger business cases may be directed to its complex business divisions, and federal-question cases can be heard in the Southern District of Florida’s Fort Lauderdale courthouse.

Will you work with my existing attorney?

Yes. A significant part of the firm’s practice comes from referrals by other lawyers, including out of state attorneys and Florida attorneys who do not handle business litigation, and the firm communicates with referring counsel throughout the matter.

Serving Businesses From Fort Lauderdale Across South Florida

The firm’s general counsel and business litigation work begins in Fort Lauderdale and Broward County and reaches across the surrounding region. Companies headquartered downtown and along the Las Olas corridor, in the Flagler Village area, and near the port and airport districts rely on the team, as do owners in Wilton Manors, Oakland Park, Pompano Beach, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, and Deerfield Beach. Further south and west the firm serves clients in Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Dania Beach, Davie, Plantation, Sunrise, Coral Springs, Parkland, and Weston.

Across the county line, the team works with businesses and property owners throughout Palm Beach County, including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, and Palm Beach Gardens. The firm also represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or real estate interests in Broward and Palm Beach Counties and need a Florida team to handle the local side of things.

Talk With a Fort Lauderdale General Counsel Attorney Before the Next Dispute Starts

If your company has no one who knows its agreements, or the agreements you have would not survive a serious disagreement, now is the time to fix that. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team offers outside counsel for Fort Lauderdale businesses that combines everyday guidance with the experience of a firm that litigates business and real estate cases. Call to discuss your company’s situation with a Fort Lauderdale general counsel attorney and decide what protections make sense.