Greenacres Business Litigation Attorney

When the person you built a company with stops answering questions about the books, or a co-owner starts treating a shared property as personal territory, the decisions you make in the first few weeks tend to shape everything that follows. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate disputes for owners, investors, and families in Greenacres and across Palm Beach County, and also serves clients in Broward County and throughout South Florida. If you are searching for a Greenacres business litigation attorney, you are probably weighing whether to negotiate, wait, or file.

Greenacres sits in the middle of a county where small and mid-sized businesses are everywhere: family-run restaurants and shops, contractors, landlords with a few rental units, and investors holding property through LLCs. These ventures are often owned by two or three people on the strength of a handshake and a short operating agreement. When the relationship breaks down, the questions are concrete. Who controls the bank account? Can a member be bought out? Can a court order a sale? Is there a deadline running that you do not know about?

Cases from Greenacres are generally filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Palm Beach County. Disputes above the county court ceiling go to circuit court, while claims within the county court range stay in county civil court. That threshold is adjusted from time to time, so confirm where your claim belongs before anything is filed.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for a Greenacres Business Dispute

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in South Florida’s difficult business and real estate disputes, with clients in Greenacres, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and throughout Palm Beach and Broward Counties. Clients also come from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with business or real estate interests here, and the firm handles the local court appearances so they do not have to travel for every hearing.

Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, has spent 37 years in litigation and has practiced in Florida since his admission to The Florida Bar in 1989. He earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989. Sundeep Nath, Senior Counsel, is a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in state and federal courts. Because the firm works as a true legal team, everyone assigned to your matter knows the file, and a strict 24 hour return call policy applies when an attorney is in court.

The firm’s results include a final judgment issued after a five-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court, a 32-page order awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That outcome reflects the kind of record-driven contract and property work these disputes demand. The firm is also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and it looks for the resolution that fits a client’s goals and budget rather than prolonging a case for its own sake. A significant part of the practice comes from referrals by other attorneys, and the firm also serves as outside general counsel and registered agent for businesses that want a litigator involved before a dispute starts.

Business and Property Disputes We Handle for Greenacres Owners

• Business Divorce: Co-owners who cannot agree on direction, compensation, or control may need a negotiated buyout, a structured wind-down, or a court-ordered separation. Valuation is usually the hardest part, and the operating or shareholder agreement often dictates which paths are open.
• LLC Member and Shareholder Disputes: Claims include breach of an operating or shareholder agreement, deadlocked management, and oppression of a minority owner. Florida’s LLC statute gives courts specific grounds for dissolution, including unlawful conduct, misappropriated assets, and an unbreakable deadlock that threatens irreparable injury.
• Missing or Diverted Funds: Unpaid distributions, commingled accounts, and managers who cannot account for company money support claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, and recovery of funds, often paired with emergency relief to freeze assets.
• Complex Contract Litigation: Purchase agreements, commercial leases, loan documents, construction contracts, and operating agreements frequently turn on exact wording and the parties’ course of dealing.
• Partition Actions: Co-owners of real estate, including former partners, siblings who inherited property, and unmarried couples, can ask a court to divide the property or order a sale and split the proceeds.
• Quiet Title and Title Disputes: Competing ownership claims, clouded title, and conveyances that should be cancelled can be resolved in a quiet title action, which may be filed in any county where part of the land sits.
• Injunctions: Temporary and permanent injunctions, including emergency relief, protect assets, property, and business interests while the case is pending.
• Family Business Conflicts: Siblings, parents and children, and in-laws who share ownership face questions of control and compensation that carry personal weight alongside the financial stakes.

What to Do Before a Co-Owner or Counterparty Forces the Issue

The first decision is whether anything is moving that cannot be undone. If money is leaving company accounts, property is being listed or encumbered, or records are disappearing, the question is no longer whether to sue but how fast a court can step in. In a judicial dissolution of an LLC, a court may appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing with notice to the parties, and in corporate dissolution cases it may issue injunctions and take other steps to preserve assets while the case proceeds. Those tools exist, but they depend on a record, so start preserving documents now: operating or shareholder agreements, bank and credit card statements, tax returns, capital contribution records, emails, and texts with the other owner.

Next, read your governing documents before you talk to anyone. Many contain buyout formulas, deadlock sale mechanisms, mandatory mediation or arbitration clauses, and fee-shifting provisions. A deadlock sale provision that is initiated before a court finds deadlock grounds can displace a judicial dissolution order, so the order in which you act can matter. Likewise, a shareholder’s election to purchase shares at fair value in a corporate dissolution case is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to modify it, which is a reason not to respond to a buyout offer casually.

Then look at the calendar. A claim on a written contract generally must be filed within five years, while oral or implied contract claims have four. Fraud claims run four years from discovery, with an outer limit of twelve years, and an action seeking specific performance carries a one-year period. Negligence claims now run two years, and professional malpractice claims also run two years from when the claim was or should have been discovered. Missing a period usually ends the claim regardless of its merit, so a short consultation early is worth more than a long one late.

Also decide where the case belongs. Greenacres matters in the Fifteenth Circuit are heard at the Palm Beach County courthouse in West Palm Beach, with branch courthouses elsewhere in the county. If a dispute involves a Broward-based co-owner or property, the Seventeenth Circuit sits in Broward County and operates a complex business division that handles matters such as dissolution of certain business entities and large business litigation. Federal court in the Southern District of Florida sits in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale when diversity or a federal question is present. Common mistakes include confronting a partner before securing records, letting a partner cash a negotiation delay into a dissipated account, and signing a buyout that does not account for the company’s debts.

Partition, Title, and Landlord Disputes When Co-Owners Part Ways

Partition is the mechanism for ending shared ownership of land. All partition actions are heard in equity under Chapter 64 of the Florida Statutes. The complaint must describe the land, identify the owners and where they live, and state what share each holds. If the court enters a judgment of partition, it appoints three commissioners to evaluate whether the property can be divided fairly. If division would prejudice the owners, the court may order a sale at public auction and divide the proceeds by ownership share. When the court orders a sale on credit, at least one-third of the price must be paid down unless everyone consents otherwise.

Inherited property gets different treatment. Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act applies to partition actions filed on or after July 1, 2020, and it covers tenancy-in-common property where there is no binding agreement among the cotenants, at least one cotenant acquired title from a relative, and a further condition is met, such as twenty percent or more of the interests being held by relatives. Once property qualifies, the court must use the heirs property procedures unless all cotenants agree otherwise, and partition in kind is favored unless the commissioners find it would prejudice the cotenants as a group. For siblings who inherited a house together, this changes the leverage considerably.

Quiet title actions address a different problem: someone holds, or claims, an interest that clouds your ownership. A plaintiff generally must trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise, and a case based on a fraudulent attempted conveyance can proceed on a summary procedure with the court advancing it on the calendar. Adverse possession claims, which require seven years of continuous possession under the statutory conditions, sometimes sit behind these disputes, as does the rule that an action to recover real property is barred unless the claimant or a predecessor possessed it within seven years of filing.

Landlord and tenant conflicts around Greenacres follow a notice-driven sequence. For unpaid rent, the landlord may terminate after a written demand if the default continues for three days, not counting weekends or court-observed holidays. For curable non-rent violations, the tenant gets seven days to correct, and for violations that cannot be cured, a seven-day notice of intent to terminate applies. Accepting partial rent does not waive the landlord’s right to proceed, but the landlord must follow one of the statutory steps, such as issuing a receipt, depositing the money in the court registry, or posting a new notice, before filing for possession. Notice defects are a frequent reason these cases stall, on either side.

Questions Greenacres Business Owners Ask About Litigation

What is a business divorce, and how is it different from a regular lawsuit?

A business divorce is the separation of co-owners, whether they are partners, LLC members, or shareholders. It may end in a negotiated buyout, a sale of the company, a wind-down, or court-ordered dissolution. Unlike a straightforward contract suit, the goal is often to decide who keeps the business and at what price.

Can I force a partner out of my Florida LLC?

It depends on the operating agreement and the conduct involved. Many agreements contain buyout, expulsion, or dissociation provisions. Absent those, Florida law lets a court dissolve an LLC on specific grounds, such as misappropriation of assets, illegal conduct by those in control, or an unbreakable deadlock causing irreparable injury, and the court may order a purchase of a petitioning member’s interest instead.

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

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

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

Five years for a claim founded on a written instrument. Oral and implied contract claims have four years, and rescission also has four. These periods run from when the claim accrues, so the date of the breach matters.

Did the 2023 changes to Florida’s negligence deadline affect contract claims?

No. The reduction of the negligence period to two years did not change the five-year period for written contracts or the four-year period for intentional torts. It does mean a claim that could be framed as negligence or as breach of contract may face very different deadlines depending on how it is pleaded.

Which court will hear my case?

Disputes within the county court range go to county civil court, and larger claims go to circuit court. Both sit in Palm Beach County for Greenacres matters. Small claims are reserved for the lowest-value disputes. Federal court is available only when jurisdiction requirements are met.

What is the difference between partition in kind and a partition sale?

Partition in kind physically divides the property among owners. When division is impractical or would prejudice the owners, the court may order the property sold at auction and the proceeds divided in proportion to each owner’s interest. For heirs property, the law leans toward preserving ownership and gives cotenants a chance to buy out a relative’s share.

If my partner offers to buy my shares, do I have to accept?

No, but how you respond matters. In a corporate dissolution proceeding, the buyout election process sets a window for agreeing on fair value, and an election is binding unless the court finds it equitable to change it. Get the value tested before agreeing to terms.

I live in New York or New Jersey. Do I need to be in Florida for hearings?

Generally not for routine matters. The firm handles local court appearances and keeps out-of-state clients informed at each stage, so you can protect a Florida interest without traveling for every proceeding. Trial and some hearings may still call for your presence.

Does every dispute have to go to trial?

No. Many resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and some agreements require those steps first. The right approach depends on how much evidence you have, how fast assets could disappear, and what outcome you actually need.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer before filing anything?

Often yes, especially when the facts involve a governing agreement, shared bank accounts, or real property. Early review of the documents frequently reveals a shorter path, such as a deadlock sale provision or an arbitration clause, and prevents a misstep that gives the other side leverage.

Serving Greenacres Business Litigation Clients Across Palm Beach and Broward Counties

The firm represents clients from Greenacres and the neighboring communities of Lake Worth Beach, Lantana, Atlantis, Palm Springs, and Haverhill, and across Palm Beach County in West Palm Beach, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, and Boca Raton. Business and property owners in Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, Riviera Beach, Belle Glade, and Lake Park also bring their disputes to the firm, along with those in the western parts of the county where agricultural and commercial land is held by families and investors.

Across the county line in Broward County, the team serves clients in Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Coral Springs, Hollywood, and Plantation, which is where many partnership and real estate disputes with a South Florida footprint reach the Seventeenth Circuit. The firm also represents New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut owners whose co-owners, tenants, or properties are in these counties, handling the local proceedings on their behalf.

Talk With a Greenacres Business Litigation Attorney About Your Dispute

If a partner, member, or co-owner has put your company or property at risk, speak with a Greenacres business litigation attorney at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team before the other side sets the terms. Call to schedule a consultation, bring your agreements and financial records, and we will talk through your deadlines, your options, and the path most likely to reach your goals without unnecessary cost.