Lake Worth Beach General Counsel

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team works with Lake Worth Beach business owners, investors, and family-run companies who want a litigator available before a problem becomes a lawsuit, and we serve clients throughout Palm Beach County and Broward County. If you are looking for Lake Worth Beach general counsel, what you are really looking for is someone who knows your contracts, your ownership structure, and your property well enough to answer a question in ten minutes instead of ten days.

Outside general counsel is different from hiring a lawyer once a dispute has already started. It is a standing relationship. A Lake Worth Beach restaurant group, a small landlord with a few rental buildings, a contractor working between Palm Beach and Broward, or a family that co-owns a company and a commercial parcel all run into the same pattern: a handshake deal that was never written down, an operating agreement nobody has read since it was signed, a lease that says less than everyone assumed. A general counsel relationship exists to catch those gaps while they are cheap to fix.

The difference between general counsel and a transactional lawyer who drafts and leaves is what happens afterward. A lawyer who also litigates drafts with an eye toward how a judge in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit would read the words, because he has seen how those words hold up when someone is trying to avoid them.

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

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm serving Palm Beach County, Broward County, and the rest of South Florida, along with clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own businesses or property here. Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989 and has spent 37 years in litigation, 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.

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 for general counsel work because contract disputes in South Florida can land in state circuit court or in federal court, and the people advising you should have handled both.

The firm practices as a true legal team, so everyone working on a matter knows the file. When you call with a question about a vendor contract or a partner who has stopped returning messages, you reach someone who already knows your company. We keep a strict 24 hour return call policy when we are in court or otherwise unavailable, and we set up scheduled conference calls at times that work for everyone involved.

Our general counsel program also includes serving as your company’s registered agent, so service of process lands with lawyers who will recognize it and act on it the same day. Having a litigator involved before a dispute starts often keeps a disagreement from turning into a lawsuit. When one does come, you are not starting over with a new firm. Our 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. The approach we describe to clients is simple: act as the situation requires, use finesse when finesse will do, and keep legal spending in proportion to what is at stake.

What an Outside General Counsel Relationship Covers

• Contract Drafting and Review: Purchase agreements, vendor and customer contracts, commercial leases, loan documents, and construction contracts. Written instruments carry a five-year limitations period in Florida, while oral and implied agreements carry four, so how a deal is documented changes how long you have to enforce it.
• Operating and Shareholder Agreements: Buyout formulas, deadlock provisions, expulsion and dissociation terms, and valuation methods. These are the clauses that decide a business divorce, and they are far easier to negotiate while everyone is still on good terms.
• Registered Agent Services: The firm can serve as your company’s registered agent, which keeps lawsuits and official notices from sitting unopened in a drawer.
• Compliance and Operational Questions: The day-to-day questions that come up in running a company, answered by someone who already knows how your business is set up.
• Commercial Landlord and Tenant Matters: Lease terms, default notices, and termination mechanics for property owners and business tenants in Palm Beach and Broward Counties.
• Family Business Governance: Siblings, spouses, and parents and children who share ownership need written rules on control, compensation, and succession before disagreements harden.
• Co-Owned Real Estate: Agreements among co-owners that anticipate how an exit, sale, or partition would work, and title questions that cloud ownership.
• Early Warning and Dispute Triage: When a partner starts withholding information or money goes unaccounted for, we assess whether you need an accounting, injunctive relief, or a negotiated separation.

When a Dispute Is Coming: What to Do Right Now

If you already suspect a problem with a partner, a tenant, or a counterparty, start by gathering the documents before anyone knows you are worried. That means the operating or shareholder agreement and every amendment, bank statements, capital contribution records, tax filings, emails about money or decisions, and the contract in question with any correspondence about performance. Do not alter, delete, or reorganize anything. Files that look complete are worth more than files that have been tidied.

Check your deadlines. Florida gives you five years to sue on a written contract and four on an oral or implied one. Rescission claims carry four years. Fraud claims run four years from discovery, capped at 12 years. A specific performance claim carries just one year, which surprises many commercial real estate buyers who assumed they had the full contract period. Negligence claims are now two years, and non-medical professional malpractice claims are also two years from when the claim was or should have been discovered. When you are not sure which clock applies, assume the shorter one and ask.

Know where the case would be heard. Palm Beach County disputes go to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, and Broward County disputes go to the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit. Claims above the county court ceiling belong in circuit court, and the Seventeenth Circuit has a complex business division for large business and construction litigation and certain entity dissolutions. Federal cases arising here are heard in the Southern District of Florida, which sits in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale, among other places.

Avoid the common mistakes. Do not confront a partner by email in a way you would not want read aloud in court. Do not move company money to “protect” it, because that can look like the very conduct you are complaining about. Do not accept partial payments or sign a side agreement without understanding whether it waives a right. And do not wait for a clean break before calling a lawyer, because the best options, including emergency injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved while a case is pending, are time sensitive.

Business Divorce, Deadlock, and Dissolution Under Florida Law

General counsel is most valuable when it prevents the situations Florida’s dissolution statutes were written for. A court can dissolve an LLC when members or managers are deadlocked and irreparable injury to the company is threatened, when assets are being misappropriated or wasted, when controlling members have acted or are reasonably expected to act illegally or fraudulently, or when it is not reasonably practicable to carry on the business in line with the articles and operating agreement. In a dissolution case the court can appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order a buyout of the petitioning member’s interest.

An operating agreement that contains its own deadlock sale mechanism changes the picture. If that mechanism is triggered before the court finds deadlock grounds, it controls over a judicial dissolution order. That is why we review these clauses with clients now rather than after the relationship has soured.

For corporations, a shareholder can seek judicial dissolution on statutory grounds, and the corporation or other shareholders can often avoid dissolution by electing to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value. If the parties agree on fair value and terms within 60 days after the first election, the court enters an order on those terms. An election to purchase is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to modify it. During the case, a court can issue injunctions and appoint a custodian to preserve assets.

Real Estate Questions That Reach General Counsel

Co-owned property is a recurring source of disputes. Florida partition actions are brought in chancery and ask the court to divide the property or, if division would prejudice the owners, order a sale, with proceeds divided according to ownership interests. Where the property qualifies as heirs property, Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act applies, which adds protections before a forced sale. Quiet title actions let an owner clear competing claims, and a plaintiff must generally trace title back at least seven years. These are far easier to manage when ownership agreements and deeds are in order from the start.

Lake Worth Beach General Counsel FAQs

What does an outside general counsel actually do?

Outside general counsel acts as your company’s lawyer on an ongoing basis without the cost of an in-house attorney. That includes contract review, compliance and operational questions, advice on ownership issues, and handling disputes early. Our program also includes serving as your registered agent.

How is general counsel different from hiring a lawyer only when I have a problem?

A lawyer hired in a crisis starts from nothing. General counsel already knows your agreements, your owners, and your history, so advice is faster and the documents are drafted with a possible dispute in mind.

Does my small business really need this?

Often the smaller the company, the more it depends on informal understandings between owners. Those are exactly the arrangements that fail without warning. Even a lightly used relationship pays for itself if it keeps one partnership dispute out of court.

What is the deadline to sue on a contract in Florida?

Five years for a contract founded on a written instrument and four years for oral or implied contracts. Rescission has four years, and specific performance has one year. The 2023 negligence change from four years to two did not alter the written contract period.

Can you serve as my company’s registered agent?

Yes. Through our general counsel program the firm serves as the registered agent, so legal papers reach attorneys who can respond promptly.

What if my operating agreement is vague or missing?

Florida’s statutory defaults then fill the gaps, and they may not match what you and your partners intended. Writing or updating the agreement while everyone agrees is far cheaper than litigating what it was meant to say.

Can a partner who is taking money from the company be stopped before the case ends?

Possibly. Florida courts can grant temporary injunctive relief to prevent assets from being moved or spent while a dispute is pending, and a court can appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing. Claims for an accounting and breach of fiduciary duty often accompany that request.

Which court would hear my business dispute?

County court handles claims up to the county civil ceiling, which is adjusted periodically, and circuit court handles larger ones. Palm Beach County cases go to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit and Broward County cases to the Seventeenth. Federal claims go to the Southern District of Florida.

Can you handle a dispute if I live in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut?

Yes. We regularly represent out of state clients with South Florida business or real estate interests, handle the local court appearances, and keep you informed so you do not have to travel for every hearing.

Will every dispute end up in court?

No. Many are resolved through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and our attorneys are experienced in all three as well as courtroom litigation. We look for the resolution that fits your goals and budget.

Do family businesses need anything different?

They usually need more. Family relationships add emotional weight to questions about control, pay, and succession. Written governance documents and discreet handling of disagreements protect both the business and the family.

Do you work with other attorneys on referrals?

Yes. A significant part of our practice comes from other lawyers, including out of state counsel whose clients have Florida disputes. We keep referring counsel informed and respect their client relationship.

Serving Business Clients Across Lake Worth Beach and South Florida

We represent business owners and property owners in Lake Worth Beach and the surrounding Palm Beach County communities, including Lantana, Palm Springs, Greenacres, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, and Delray Beach. Our general counsel clients also come from Boca Raton, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Jupiter, and Palm Beach Gardens. To the south, we serve companies and co-owners throughout Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, and Hollywood. We also work with clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or real estate interests in South Florida and need local counsel who will handle the proceedings here.

Talk With a Lake Worth Beach General Counsel Attorney

If your company needs a lawyer who knows its agreements before a disagreement starts, or if a partner dispute is already taking shape, the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your situation and recommend a practical path. As a Lake Worth Beach general counsel attorney team, we build the relationship around what your business actually needs, not a package it does not. Call us to schedule a consultation.