Hollywood Breach of Fiduciary Duty Attorney

If you own part of a company in Hollywood and suspect that a partner, manager, or fellow member is acting for his or her own benefit instead of the business’s, you are weighing a decision that will shape both your investment and your relationship with that person. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business litigation and real estate disputes for owners, investors, and families in Broward County and Palm Beach County, and a Hollywood breach of fiduciary duty attorney from our team can help you decide whether the facts support a claim and which remedy fits.

Fiduciary claims are different from ordinary contract disputes. The question is not only whether someone broke a promise, but whether a person entrusted with control over company money, decisions, or property put his or her own interests ahead of the owners to whom that duty was owed. Self-dealing contracts, diverted distributions, undisclosed side businesses, and managers who cannot account for company funds all raise these claims. They tend to turn on records, bank statements, and the exact wording of an operating or shareholder agreement, which is why the early work of an attorney is largely forensic: finding where the money went and proving it.

The stakes are rarely limited to money damages. A fiduciary who is still in control of the company can keep moving assets while a lawsuit is pending, and a minority owner may have no practical way to see the books. A well-built case pairs the damages claim with tools that stop the harm in the meantime and force disclosure.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Fiduciary Duty Disputes in Hollywood

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in South Florida’s difficult business and real estate disputes, serving clients in Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and throughout Broward County and Palm Beach County. Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, 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 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.

Sundeep Nath, Senior Counsel, is a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in state and federal courts. That range matters in fiduciary disputes, which sometimes belong in state circuit court and sometimes raise issues that reach federal court. The firm practices as a true legal team, so everyone working on your matter knows the file and can answer when you call, and we keep a strict 24 hour return call policy when we are in court or otherwise unavailable.

The firm’s litigation record includes a five-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court that ended in a 32-page final judgment awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. We cite it as evidence of how we prepare: cases that turn on documents and the parties’ history of dealing require detailed trial work. Our attorneys are also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and we look for the resolution that serves the client’s goals and budget rather than prolonging a case for its own sake. Many matters reach us as referrals from other attorneys, including out of state counsel whose clients hold interests in South Florida.

Common Fiduciary Breaches in Hollywood Business and Property Disputes

• Diverted Company Funds: A manager or controlling partner pays personal expenses from company accounts, moves cash into a related entity, or takes unauthorized distributions. These cases often require tracing commingled accounts and seeking an accounting.
• Self-Dealing Transactions: The company leases property from, buys services from, or sells assets to an entity the manager secretly owns, on terms that favor the insider rather than the business.
• Freeze-Outs of Minority Owners: A majority member cuts off distributions, withholds financial information, removes a partner from management, or dilutes an ownership stake to squeeze a minority owner out.
• Usurped Business Opportunities: A partner steers a deal, client, or property purchase to a personal venture instead of the company, a frequent problem in real estate investment partnerships.
• Unpaid Distributions and Disputed Capital Contributions: Owners disagree about what was contributed and what is owed back, and the managing party cannot or will not document it.
• Family Business Betrayals: Siblings, parents, and in-laws who share ownership may face a relative who runs the company as a personal account. These matters call for discretion alongside firm protection of the client’s financial interests.
• Co-Owner Misconduct in Real Estate: One co-owner collects rents, encumbers a property, or pockets sale proceeds without accounting to the others, which can lead to claims alongside a partition action.

What to Do If You Suspect a Partner Is Breaching a Fiduciary Duty

Start by securing what you are legally entitled to see. Owners generally have access to company records, and your operating agreement or shareholder agreement may spell out inspection rights. Gather the governing documents, tax returns, bank and credit card statements you already have, distribution history, capital contribution records, and any emails or messages in which the questionable transactions were discussed. Do not access accounts or systems you are not authorized to use, and do not remove files you have no right to hold; a fiduciary claim can be undermined by a counterclaim about how the evidence was obtained.

Then watch the calendar. Florida sets different limitations periods depending on the claim: five years for an action founded on a written instrument, four years for contract claims not founded on a written instrument, and four years for fraud, running from discovery and capped at 12 years. Which period applies to a fiduciary claim depends on how it is pleaded and what conduct is at issue, which is a reason to have counsel assess the facts early instead of assuming you have time.

If money is actively leaving the company, speed matters more than anything else. A court can issue temporary injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved or spent while the case is pending, and in company dissolution proceedings it can appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing. We prepare emergency filings with the documentary support judges expect to see.

For forum, a Hollywood dispute in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit is typically filed in Broward County, where the South Regional Courthouse sits in Hollywood and the Central Judicial Complex sits in Fort Lauderdale. The Seventeenth Circuit also maintains complex business divisions that handle large business litigation and certain business entity dissolutions, and a qualifying case can be directed there under the circuit’s administrative order. If your co-owners or the company’s operations reach into Palm Beach County, that county’s cases belong to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, and some disputes with federal jurisdiction are heard in the Southern District of Florida.

The most common mistake is confronting the partner before the evidence is preserved. Another is waiting for a final accounting that never comes. Talk to counsel before you send accusatory messages or sign anything that releases claims.

Remedies Available When a Fiduciary Has Breached a Duty

Recovery in these cases is rarely a single remedy. Depending on the facts, we pursue an accounting to establish what the company earned and where it went, damages for the loss, recovery of diverted funds or the profits a fiduciary earned through self-dealing, and injunctive relief to freeze further transfers. Where the breach has made the business unworkable, the remedy may be structural.

For LLCs, Florida’s statute allows a member to ask a circuit court for dissolution on several grounds, including that assets are being misappropriated or wasted to the company’s injury, that controlling managers or members have acted or are reasonably expected to act illegally or fraudulently, that the company’s affairs cannot reasonably be carried on under its articles and operating agreement, or that deadlocked owners threaten irreparable injury to the company. In that proceeding the court can appoint a receiver or custodian, or order a purchase of the petitioning member’s interest. If an operating agreement already contains a deadlock sale provision that is properly initiated before the court finds deadlock, that provision can take the place of a dissolution order.

For corporations, a shareholder petition for judicial dissolution gives the other owners a statutory option to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value. The corporation must notify the other shareholders of that option within 30 days after the proceeding starts, and if the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days after the first election, the court enters an order directing the purchase. The court can also issue injunctions and preserve corporate assets while the case is pending. In practice, the threat of dissolution is often what produces a negotiated buyout on fair terms, and we evaluate both paths from the start so you are not locked into one before the facts are known.

Fiduciary Duty Questions We Hear From Hollywood Business Owners

What is a fiduciary duty in a business?

It is a legal obligation to act in the interests of the company and its owners rather than for personal gain. Managers, controlling members, partners, and corporate officers and directors can owe these duties, and the scope depends on the entity type, the governing documents, and the person’s role.

What does breach of fiduciary duty look like in practice?

Common examples include taking company money for personal use, secretly profiting from a transaction with the company, hiding financial information from other owners, and diverting a business opportunity. The pattern is an insider using control over the business to benefit himself or herself at the owners’ expense.

How long do I have to file a claim in Florida?

The period depends on the nature of the claim. Actions founded on a written instrument carry a five-year period, contract claims not founded on a written instrument carry four years, and fraud carries four years from discovery with a 12-year outer limit. Because the right period depends on how the claim is framed, have your facts reviewed promptly.

Can I recover money a partner took from the company?

Often, yes. Remedies can include an accounting, damages, recovery of diverted funds, and disgorgement of improper profits. Recovery in practice depends on proving the transfers and, sometimes, on preserving assets early so there is something left to collect.

Can I stop a partner from moving or spending company money while the case is pending?

A court can issue temporary injunctive relief to prevent assets from being moved or spent, and in a dissolution proceeding it can appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing. The strength of your documentation largely determines whether emergency relief is granted.

Does my operating agreement matter?

Very much. It may define managers’ duties, set buyout or deadlock sale mechanisms, address record access, and govern how disputes are resolved, including whether arbitration is required. We read the agreement first because it shapes both the claims and the forum.

Can I hold a minority owner’s position and still sue a majority owner?

Yes. Minority owners are among the most frequent plaintiffs in these cases because they depend on others to run the business honestly. Freeze-out and self-dealing claims commonly arise from that imbalance.

What if the person who took the money is a family member?

The legal claims are the same, but the approach is often different. Many family business disputes are resolved through negotiation or mediation that preserves what can be preserved, and we handle these cases with discretion while still protecting your financial position.

Should I file in Broward County or Palm Beach County?

Venue depends on where the company operates, where the defendants reside, and where the conduct occurred. A Hollywood-based business generally belongs in Broward County’s Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, while a company with operations in Palm Beach County may fall under the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. We evaluate venue before filing.

Will my case have to be tried, or can it settle?

Many disputes resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and our attorneys have experience with all three as well as with courtroom litigation. Settlement leverage usually comes from being fully prepared to try the case.

I live in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut. Can you handle a South Florida fiduciary dispute for me?

Yes. We regularly represent clients from those states who have business or real estate interests in South Florida, and we handle the local court appearances so you are not traveling for every hearing.

Do you work with other attorneys on these cases?

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

Serving Fiduciary Duty Clients Across Hollywood and South Florida

Our work for Hollywood clients extends across Broward County, including Hallandale Beach, Dania Beach, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Plantation, Sunrise, Weston, Coral Springs, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, and Lauderhill. We also represent owners and investors in Palm Beach County, from Boca Raton and Delray Beach through Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, and Palm Beach Gardens. Many of our fiduciary cases involve co-owners spread across several communities, or clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own business or real estate interests here, and we handle the Florida proceedings on their behalf.

Speak With a Hollywood Breach of Fiduciary Duty Lawyer

If you believe a partner, manager, or co-owner is using your business for personal gain, the sooner the facts are reviewed, the more options you tend to have. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can evaluate your agreements and records, explain your remedies, and move quickly if assets are at risk. Call us to discuss your situation with a Hollywood breach of fiduciary duty lawyer who will tell you plainly what your case looks like and what a sensible path forward would be.