Greenacres Shareholder Dispute Attorney

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and family members in South Florida who have run into trouble with the people they own a company with. For clients in Greenacres and across Palm Beach County, the firm handles every kind of ownership conflict, and a Greenacres shareholder dispute attorney is often the first call a minority owner makes after being shut out of decisions, denied information, or left watching money disappear.

Shareholder fights rarely begin with a lawsuit. They begin with a missed distribution, a meeting nobody told you about, a relative who starts paying himself like the company is a personal account, or a buyout offer that seems oddly low. By the time a client calls us, the relationship is usually already broken. What matters then is what the corporate paperwork says, what Florida’s corporate statutes allow, and how fast the facts can be pinned down before assets move.

Greenacres has plenty of closely held companies: family-run shops, contractors, medical and professional practices, and small commercial landlords. Closely held means there is no market for your shares and no easy exit. That is exactly why courts have tools like court-ordered dissolution and forced buyouts, and why knowing which tool fits your situation matters so much.

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

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm serving Greenacres, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and the rest of Palm Beach County and Broward County. Its founder, Andrew M. Schwartz, has spent 37 years in litigation, was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989, and built his career around contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders. He earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989.

Andrew 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. That matters in shareholder cases, which can land in either system depending on who the parties are and what claims are pleaded.

The firm works as a true legal team, so everyone on your matter knows the file. Calls are answered, and if we are in court, a strict 24 hour return call policy applies. Our attorneys are 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.

Recent results reflect the kind of document-heavy work these disputes require. After a 5-day bench trial, a Broward County circuit judge issued a 32-page final judgment awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. Shareholder cases turn on the same skills: reading agreements closely, reconstructing the parties’ course of dealing, and presenting it clearly to a judge.

Common Shareholder Conflicts We Handle

• Freeze-Outs of Minority Owners: A majority holder removes you from management, stops paying you, cuts off your access to company records, or dilutes your stake while keeping control for himself.
• Deadlock Between Equal Owners: Two 50 percent holders cannot agree on spending, hiring, or selling, and the company stalls. Florida’s corporate statutes allow a court to step in when the deadlock cannot be broken, and some shareholder agreements contain their own deadlock sale mechanism that can override that route.
• Diverted or Missing Company Funds: Personal expenses run through the company, unexplained transfers, commingled accounts, or a manager who cannot account for the money. Remedies include an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty claims, and recovery of the funds.
• Buyout and Valuation Fights: One side wants out, the other offers a number that ignores goodwill, real estate, or earning power. Florida’s statute on elective purchases uses a fair value standard, and the valuation battle is often the heart of the case.
• Breach of a Shareholder Agreement: Violations of transfer restrictions, right-of-first-refusal clauses, non-compete terms, or required approval thresholds. These claims depend on exact contract language.
• Family Business Disputes: Siblings who inherited shares, parents and children with different plans, or in-laws who share ownership. We handle these with discretion while protecting our client’s financial position.
• Company-Owned Real Estate: Many Greenacres companies hold the building or land they operate from. A fight over the company is often a fight over the property, which can bring partition or title questions into the case.

What to Do in the First Weeks of a Shareholder Dispute

Start by collecting documents while you still have access. That means the articles of incorporation, bylaws, any shareholder agreement, stock ledger, tax returns, financial statements, bank statements, minutes, and emails that show how decisions were actually made. If you have been locked out of the systems, write down what you remember about where records are kept and who controls them. Do not take documents you are not entitled to see; talk to counsel about how to demand them properly.

Read your shareholder agreement before you do anything else. Many contain notice requirements, mandatory mediation or arbitration clauses, buy-sell formulas, or deadlock sale provisions. Missing a contractual step can cost you leverage. Do not sign a buyout offer, a resignation, or a release until someone has checked the valuation and the terms.

Deadlines matter too. A claim founded on a written instrument, such as a shareholder agreement, generally must be filed within five years under Florida law. A claim on an oral or implied agreement has four years, and fraud claims run four years from discovery, capped at 12. Negligence-type claims are now two years. Which period applies depends on how the claim is framed, so do not assume you have time.

If you suspect money is being moved, speak up early. Courts handling dissolution proceedings under Florida’s corporate statutes can issue injunctions, appoint a receiver or custodian, and take steps to preserve company assets while the case is pending. Waiting while funds drain makes those remedies harder to use.

Cases for Greenacres owners are generally filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Palm Beach County. Disputes involving amounts above the county court limit belong in circuit court, and judicial dissolution is a circuit court matter. If the company or the defendants are tied to Broward County, the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit may be the right venue, and it has a complex business division that handles dissolution of certain business entities and large business litigation. Federal court in the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, can come into play when the parties are from different states and the amount at stake qualifies.

A common mistake is acting alone: voting yourself a salary, locking the other owner out, or emptying an account. Courts look at both sides’ conduct, and a self-help move can turn a strong case into a weak one.

Dissolution, Buyouts, and Other Court Remedies for Corporate Owners

For a corporation, Florida law lets a shareholder ask the circuit court to dissolve the company on specified grounds, and the court may order other relief instead. One recognized ground applies when a corporation has abandoned its business and failed within a reasonable time to wind up, distribute assets, and dissolve.

Dissolution is not always the end. When a shareholder petitions under the statute’s main grounds, the corporation, or if it does not act, one or more other shareholders, can elect to buy the petitioner’s shares 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 directing the purchase on those terms. An election to purchase is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to set it aside or modify it. Within 30 days after a dissolution proceeding begins, the corporation must notify the other shareholders that they can avoid dissolution by electing to buy.

If the company is an LLC, a separate statute applies. A member or manager can seek judicial dissolution when, among other grounds, assets are being misappropriated or wasted to the company’s injury, controlling members are acting or expected to act illegally or fraudulently, it is not reasonably practicable to carry on the business under the operating agreement, or managers or members are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened or occurring. The court may appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order a purchase of the petitioning member’s interest.

Filing for dissolution does not necessarily waive a contractual route. A shareholder agreement that contains a compliant deadlock sale provision can still be invoked, and a deadlock sale that is initiated and carried out can displace a dissolution order. That interplay is one reason the choice of strategy should be made before the first pleading is filed.

Frequently Asked Questions About Shareholder Disputes in Greenacres

What counts as a shareholder dispute?

It is any conflict among the owners of a corporation over control, money, information, or the company’s future. Typical examples include freeze-outs, deadlock, self-dealing, unpaid distributions, and disagreements over what a minority stake is worth.

Can a minority shareholder force a buyout?

Not automatically. A shareholder agreement may provide a buyout right. Otherwise, a minority owner who petitions for dissolution on valid grounds may find that the corporation or other shareholders elect to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value instead.

How long do I have to file a shareholder lawsuit in Florida?

It depends on the claim. A claim based on a written agreement generally has five years. Oral or implied contract claims have four. Fraud claims have four years from discovery, with an outer limit of 12 years. Negligence claims have two years.

Can I get the company’s financial records?

Shareholders generally have inspection rights under Florida law, and the company’s own governing documents may add to them. If a majority owner refuses, we can make a formal demand and, if needed, ask a court to enforce it.

What if my co-owner is taking company money?

You may have claims for breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, conversion, and recovery of the funds. When assets are at risk, a court can issue injunctive relief and, in dissolution proceedings, appoint a receiver or custodian to preserve them.

Does every shareholder dispute end up in court?

No. Many resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, especially when the agreement requires it. Our attorneys handle all of these paths and pursue the one most likely to meet your goals efficiently.

What happens if the owners are deadlocked 50/50?

Check the shareholder agreement first, since some include a deadlock sale mechanism. If not, a court may have power to act where deadlock cannot be broken and the company is suffering irreparable injury, including dissolution or a buyout.

Does a buyout election stop a dissolution case?

It can. In the corporate dissolution process, an election to purchase the petitioner’s shares at fair value is meant to let the company continue. The parties then have 60 days to agree on value, and if they cannot, the court sets it.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer for a small family company?

Often yes, because smaller companies tend to have thin paperwork and heavy emotion. Counsel can sort out what rights you actually have, price your stake, and tell you whether to fight or settle before costs outrun the value.

I live in New York or New Jersey. Can you handle my Greenacres company dispute?

Yes. We regularly represent clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who have business or real estate interests in South Florida. We handle the local court appearances and keep you informed so you do not need to travel for every hearing.

Will my case be heard in state or federal court?

Most shareholder disputes among Palm Beach County owners are heard in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. Federal court in the Southern District of Florida may be available when the parties are from different states and the amount at stake meets the requirements, or when a federal claim is involved.

Can a lawyer who is not from Florida refer me to you?

Referrals from other attorneys are a significant part of our practice, including from out of state lawyers whose clients have disputes here. We keep referring counsel informed and respect that relationship.

Serving Shareholder Dispute Clients Across Greenacres and Palm Beach County

We represent shareholders, LLC members, and company owners in Greenacres and the surrounding communities of Palm Beach County. From Greenacres we regularly work with clients in Lake Worth Beach, Lantana, Atlantis, Palm Springs, Haverhill, and Wellington, and with owners in West Palm Beach, Royal Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, and Riviera Beach. Further south in the county, we serve Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Highland Beach, and Boca Raton.

The firm’s reach continues into Broward County, including Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, Fort Lauderdale, and neighboring cities, where business interests of Palm Beach County owners often overlap. We also work with clients who live in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut and own businesses or property in South Florida.

Talk to a Greenacres Shareholder Dispute Lawyer

If a co-owner has frozen you out, diverted funds, or made an offer that does not add up, speak with a Greenacres shareholder dispute lawyer before you respond. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your agreement, look at the numbers, and tell you plainly whether the best path is negotiation, a buyout, mediation, or court. Call our team to schedule a consultation and get a clear read on where you stand.