Hollywood Contract Litigation Attorney

A contract has gone wrong, and in Hollywood the next move you make will shape what your claim is worth. Whether a vendor never delivered, a buyer walked from a closing, or a business partner is ignoring an operating agreement, the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate disputes for owners, investors, and families across Broward County and Palm Beach County. If you are searching for a Hollywood contract litigation attorney, you are probably weighing whether to keep negotiating, send a demand, or file suit.

Contract disputes are rarely about whether a deal existed. They turn on what the document actually says, what the parties did afterward, and whether the claim is still timely. A five-year clock applies to many written-contract claims, but shorter clocks govern other claims that often travel with them. Knowing which clock applies, and which court will hear the case, is the first practical question.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Contract Litigation

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in South Florida’s difficult business and real estate disputes, serving Hollywood and the rest of Broward County, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, and Palm Beach County. Contract enforcement and interpretation have been at the center of Andrew Schwartz’s work through 37 years in litigation. He was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989, earned his undergraduate degree at Emory University in 1986, and received 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. The firm works as a true legal team, so everyone on your matter knows the file, and a strict 24 hour return call policy applies when the attorneys are in court.

The firm’s results include a recent Broward County matter in which, after a 5-day bench trial, the Circuit Court issued a 32-page final judgment awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. Cases like that are won on the wording of the agreement and the record of how the parties dealt with each other, which is how we prepare every contract file. We also handle mediation and arbitration, and we look for the resolution that fits your goals and budget rather than prolonging a case for its own sake.

Types of Contract Disputes We Litigate for Hollywood Clients

• Purchase and Sale Agreements: Failed closings, disputed deposits, and sellers or buyers who refuse to perform on business or real estate deals. Courts can sometimes order the deal completed rather than just awarding money.
• Operating and Shareholder Agreements: Breaches of buyout terms, distribution rules, management authority, and deadlock provisions among LLC members, partners, and shareholders.
• Commercial Leases: Disputes between landlords and tenants over rent, defaults, build-out obligations, and termination, including retail and office space along Hollywood’s commercial corridors.
• Loan and Financing Documents: Defaults, guaranty claims, and disagreements over payoff or repayment terms in private and commercial lending arrangements.
• Construction Contracts: Payment fights, delay claims, and scope disputes between owners, contractors, and subcontractors on South Florida projects.
• Missing or Diverted Funds: Unpaid distributions, commingled accounts, and managers who cannot account for company money, often pleaded alongside breach of fiduciary duty and a demand for an accounting.
• Family Business Agreements: Contract and ownership conflicts among siblings, parents and children, and in-laws who share a company.
• Injunction-Driven Disputes: Situations where waiting for a final judgment would let assets be moved or spent, requiring temporary or permanent injunctive relief.

Deadlines That Control Whether a Hollywood Contract Claim Survives

Florida sets different filing periods depending on how the claim is framed. A claim on a written contract generally has five years. A claim on an oral or implied contract has four. A suit to rescind a contract has four years, and a fraud claim has four years from discovery, with an outer limit of 12 years. Specific performance, the remedy that forces a party to complete a deal, carries a one-year period, which surprises many people and is one reason a real estate contract dispute should not sit.

Be careful with claims dressed up in other clothing. Negligence now has a two-year period, and a professional malpractice claim, even one founded on contract, also has two years from when it was or should have been discovered. Recent changes to the negligence deadline did not alter the five-year written-contract period. If a judgment is already in hand, an action on a Florida court judgment can be brought within twenty years. Because the right label determines the right deadline, have the facts reviewed before assuming you have years left.

What to Do Right Now and Where a Hollywood Case Gets Filed

Start by pulling together the signed agreement, every amendment, and the correspondence that followed: emails, texts, invoices, bank records, and any notice of default. Do not rewrite history in angry messages to the other side. Follow any notice and cure provisions in the contract exactly, because a missed notice step can hand the other party an argument. Keep performing your own obligations where you can, and avoid self-help such as withholding payments or changing locks until the contract has been read closely.

Hollywood sits in Broward County, which is covered by the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. Disputes above $50,000 are heard in circuit court, while claims between $8,000.01 and $50,000 go to county court, and small claims cover amounts up to $8,000. The Broward courts that serve this area include the Central Judicial Complex in Fort Lauderdale and the South Regional Courthouse in Hollywood. The Seventeenth Circuit also maintains complex business divisions for large business and construction litigation, and a case can be filed directly into one only as provided in its administrative order. When the parties or the claims qualify, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida also sits in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

Many contracts require mediation or arbitration before or instead of a lawsuit, so check for those clauses early. Where money is leaving the company or property is about to change hands, ask a Hollywood business litigation attorney about emergency relief before the assets are gone.

Remedies Available When a Contract Is Breached

The most familiar remedy is money damages for what the breach cost you. When money cannot fix the problem, as with unique real estate, a court can order specific performance. Injunctions can freeze conduct or assets while the case proceeds. Partners and members may also seek an accounting, recovery of diverted funds, or, when an ownership relationship cannot continue, court-supervised dissolution or a buyout of one side’s interest. The contract itself may also shift attorney’s fees, set venue, or require a particular forum, so the fine print often decides how the case is fought.

Hollywood Contract Litigation Questions, Answered

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

Generally five years for a claim founded on a written instrument. Oral and implied contract claims have four years. Other related claims, such as specific performance, have shorter periods.

What is specific performance?

It is a court order requiring a party to carry out the contract, most often used when real property is involved and money would not make you whole. It has a one-year filing period.

Which court will hear my Hollywood contract case?

Hollywood is in Broward County, so state cases are filed with the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit’s civil courts. Amounts above $50,000 go to circuit court. Some disputes may qualify for federal court in the Southern District of Florida.

Does my contract’s arbitration clause mean I cannot go to court?

Often it means the dispute starts in arbitration, but the scope and wording of the clause matter. We review it to see what it covers and whether emergency court relief is still available.

Can I get a court order to stop a partner from moving company money?

Yes, in urgent situations a court can issue injunctive relief to prevent assets from being moved or spent while the dispute is pending.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer for a smaller contract dispute?

Often, yes, at least for a review. Claims under the small claims ceiling can sometimes be handled without a lawyer, but anything involving complex terms, fee provisions, or counterclaims benefits from early advice on cost versus recovery.

What if the other side says we only had a verbal agreement?

Oral agreements can be enforceable, though they are harder to prove and carry a four-year period. Emails, texts, payment history, and performance can all serve as evidence of the terms.

Can I recover attorney’s fees if I win?

Only if the contract or a statute provides for it. Many commercial contracts include a fee clause, and it can be reciprocal, so read it before deciding how aggressively to proceed.

I live in New York or New Jersey. Can you handle my Hollywood-area contract dispute?

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

Do all contract disputes end up at trial?

No. Many resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration. We pursue the route most likely to meet your goals and are prepared to try the case when that is the better path.

What if the claim is really a business divorce, not just a contract problem?

Many partner and member disputes combine breach of contract with fiduciary duty and dissolution issues. Florida law allows court-ordered dissolution for deadlock, misappropriation of assets, or when carrying on business under the agreement is no longer reasonably practicable. Which route fits depends on your agreement and the facts.

Does the firm take referrals from other lawyers?

Yes. A significant part of our practice comes from other attorneys, including out of state counsel whose clients have Florida disputes, and we keep referring counsel informed throughout.

Serving Contract Litigation Clients Across Broward and Palm Beach Counties

We represent Hollywood business owners and investors and clients throughout Broward County, including Hallandale Beach, Dania Beach, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Wilton Manors, Oakland Park, Pompano Beach, Plantation, Sunrise, Coral Springs, Parkland, and Deerfield Beach. Our work also extends north into Palm Beach County, including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth, Wellington, West Palm Beach, and Palm Beach Gardens. Whether the dispute involves a shopping center tenant, a South Florida construction contract, or a co-owned company with partners scattered between Florida and the tri-state area, the same attention to the contract’s wording applies.

Speak With a Hollywood Contract Litigation Attorney

If a contract dispute is putting your company, investment, or property at risk, talk with a Hollywood contract litigation attorney before a deadline or a lost document narrows your options. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team will review your agreement, explain which claims and remedies apply, and give you a straight view of cost and likely paths. Call us to schedule a consultation.