Lantana Business Litigation Attorney

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in Lantana who have landed in a dispute with a partner, a co-owner, a landlord, or a counterparty, handling business and real estate litigation across Palm Beach County and Broward County. When a company’s owners stop agreeing, money goes missing, or a contract is not honored, the case needs a lawyer who has tried these disputes, not just written letters about them. That is the work of a Lantana business litigation attorney at this firm.

Lantana is a small town with a dense mix of owner-operated businesses, waterfront and commercial property, and families who have held real estate together for years. Those are the settings where business relationships tend to fray quietly and then break all at once. A handshake deal between friends turns into a disagreement over who owns what. A sibling who inherited a share of a company stops talking to the one running it. A buyer refuses to close on a commercial property after the contract is signed.

Timing shapes almost every one of these cases, and the clock starts earlier than most people expect. A claim on a written contract generally has five years under Florida law, but an oral agreement has four, and a claim asking a court to force a sale under a real estate contract has only one. Knowing which deadline governs your dispute is one of the first things worth sorting out.

How a Lantana Business Dispute Usually Unfolds

Most business disputes do not begin in a courtroom. They begin with a demand letter, a stalled negotiation, or a partner who stops returning calls. Early on, the useful questions are practical: what does the written agreement actually say, what did each side do in reliance on it, and what evidence exists of the money, the communications, and the course of dealing between the parties?

If the dispute cannot be resolved by negotiation, the next step is a complaint filed in the proper court. In Palm Beach County, that is the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Palm Beach County. Claims above the county court limit belong in circuit court, and disputes between co-owners over dissolution, partition, or title are equitable matters heard there. Cases that involve a federal question or parties from different states can sometimes be heard in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which sits in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale.

After filing, the defendant responds, the parties exchange documents and take depositions, and many cases are sent to mediation before trial. A large share resolve at that stage, particularly when both sides have seen the evidence. Cases that do not settle go to a bench or jury trial. The firm recently won a 32-page final judgment after a five-day bench trial in Broward County, awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That kind of result comes from preparing the file for trial from the start, even when settlement is the goal.

Some disputes cannot wait for that timeline. If a partner is draining accounts or a property is about to be transferred, a court can be asked for a temporary injunction early in the case, sometimes on an emergency basis, to freeze the situation until the dispute is decided.

Why Lantana Clients Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business litigation and real estate firm serving Lantana, the rest of Palm Beach County, and Broward County. Schwartz has spent 37 years in litigation. He was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989 and has practiced litigation in Florida since then. He earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989. His career has centered on complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders.

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 practices as a true legal team, meaning everyone working on a matter knows the file and can answer when a client calls. There is a strict 24 hour return call policy when the attorneys are in court, and staff can set up scheduled conference calls at times that work for everyone.

The firm is experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and it looks for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget rather than stretching a case out for its own sake. Many clients arrive wanting the most aggressive lawyer available; in practice, what they usually need is a lawyer who acts as the situation requires and uses finesse when finesse will do. A significant part of the practice also comes from referrals by other attorneys, including out of state lawyers whose clients have disputes in Florida.

Types of Business and Real Estate Disputes We Handle in Lantana

• Business Divorce: Partners, LLC members, and shareholders who can no longer work together face deadlocked management, buyout and valuation fights, and breaches of operating or shareholder agreements. Outcomes range from a negotiated buyout to a structured wind-down to judicial dissolution.
• Family Business Disputes: Siblings who inherited a company together, parents and children with different plans for it, and in-laws who share ownership face questions of control and compensation that carry personal weight alongside the financial stakes.
• Complex Contract Litigation: Purchase agreements, operating agreements, commercial leases, loan documents, and construction contracts often turn on precise wording and the parties’ history of dealing with each other.
• Missing Funds and Breach of Fiduciary Duty: Unpaid distributions, diverted company money, disputed capital contributions, and commingled accounts can support claims for an accounting and recovery of funds, with emergency relief available to stop assets from being moved.
• Partition Actions: When co-owners of real estate cannot agree, Florida law lets one ask the court to divide the property or order it sold and the proceeds shared. Inherited property can fall under special heirs property rules that change how a sale is handled.
• Quiet Title and Title Disputes: A court can be asked to clear competing ownership claims or cancel a document clouding title to land, and such a case may be filed in any county where part of the land sits.
• Real Estate Contract Disputes: Failed closings, purchase and sale disagreements, and landlord and tenant conflicts, including claims to force completion of a sale.
• Injunctions: Temporary and permanent injunctions, including emergency relief, protect business interests, company assets, and property while the dispute is pending.

What to Do When a Business Relationship Breaks Down

Start by gathering the documents that define the relationship: the operating agreement, shareholder agreement, partnership agreement, purchase contract, lease, and any amendments. Then collect the records that show what actually happened, such as bank statements, tax filings, emails and texts between the parties, and any accounting your company keeps. Do not delete anything, and do not move money or property in response to what the other side has done. Moves like that tend to be used against the person who made them.

Read the dispute provisions in your agreement before anything else. Many operating and shareholder agreements require mediation or arbitration first, contain buyout formulas, or include a deadlock sale mechanism. In an LLC, a deadlock sale provision that is started before a court finds deadlock grounds can displace judicial dissolution, so the order in which steps are taken can matter a great deal. The same agreement may also say where a case must be filed and whether the loser pays the winner’s fees.

Deadlines deserve attention early. A written contract claim carries a five year period, an oral or implied contract claim four years, a fraud claim four years from discovery with an outer limit of twelve years, and an action for specific performance only one year. Negligence claims now have two years, and professional malpractice claims have two years from when the claim was or should have been discovered. If you are unsure which deadline applies, a short consultation can settle it.

If assets are at risk, say so at the outset. A court can be asked for emergency injunctive relief, and in a dissolution case it can appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing. Cases filed in Palm Beach County are handled in the circuit court sitting at the main courthouse in West Palm Beach, with branch courthouses elsewhere in the county. Broward County matters are heard in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which has a complex business division for larger business disputes and dissolution cases.

The most common mistake is waiting. People hope a partner will come around, keep working without a paper trail, or sign a quick settlement without reading the release. A prompt review of the documents and deadlines usually costs little and protects a lot.

Business Divorce and Judicial Dissolution in Florida

When owners reach an impasse, Florida law gives courts several tools. For an LLC, a member or manager can ask a circuit court to dissolve the company on grounds that include unlawful conduct of the business, the impracticality of carrying on under the operating agreement, illegal or fraudulent conduct by those in control, misappropriation or waste of assets that causes injury, or a deadlock that threatens irreparable injury. A court can also appoint a receiver or custodian, or order a buyout of the petitioning member’s interest.

Corporations have a parallel framework. A shareholder can seek dissolution on specified grounds, and once such a case begins, the corporation must notify the other shareholders within 30 days that they can avoid dissolution by electing to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value. If the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days of the first election, the court enters an order directing the purchase. An election to buy is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to set it aside. While the case is pending, the court can issue injunctions and take steps to preserve company assets.

Dissolution is often a lever for negotiation as much as a destination. Many of these cases end in a buyout or a negotiated separation once both sides understand what a court is likely to do.

Partition, Title, and Co-Owned Property

Property disputes between co-owners follow their own track. A partition action is filed in chancery, and the complaint must describe the land, name the owners and where they live, and state each owner’s share. If the court orders partition, it appoints three commissioners, chosen by the court unless the parties agree. When the commissioners report that dividing the land would prejudice the owners, the court may order a sale at public auction and divide the proceeds by ownership share. A sale on credit is possible for good cause, but at least one-third of the price must be paid down unless everyone consents otherwise.

Inherited property can change this. Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act applies to partition cases filed on or after July 1, 2020, where relatives hold title as tenants in common without a binding agreement on partition, and one of the listed conditions is met, such as relatives holding twenty percent or more of the interests. In those cases, the court cannot simply order a sale; it must follow the statute’s procedures and consider whether dividing the land in kind would prejudice the owners as a group.

Quiet title actions work differently. They ask the court to determine ownership or cancel a conveyance or other record that clouds title. The plaintiff must trace title for at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise. Adverse possession claims, by comparison, require seven years of continuous possession with additional statutory steps, including recording requirements when a claim rests on color of title.

Out of State Owners With Lantana Interests

Many of our clients live in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut and own a business, investment property, or a share of real estate in Palm Beach County or Broward County. The firm handles the local court appearances and proceedings so those clients do not have to travel for every hearing, and keeps them informed at each stage. Andrew Schwartz grew up in Short Hills, New Jersey, and clients from the tri-state area often value working with a Florida litigator who understands how they do business.

Questions About Business Litigation in Lantana

What is a business divorce?

It is the separation of co-owners of a company, whether partners, LLC members, or shareholders. It can end in a negotiated buyout, a sale of the business, a structured wind-down, or a court-ordered dissolution when the owners cannot agree.

Can I force a business partner out of an LLC in Florida?

It depends on your operating agreement and the partner’s conduct. Many agreements contain buyout, expulsion, or dissociation provisions, and Florida law provides court remedies for serious misconduct or when the company can no longer function. The agreement should be reviewed first.

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

You may have claims for breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, conversion, and recovery of the funds. If assets are at risk of being moved or spent, a court can be asked for injunctive relief while the case is pending.

How long do I have to sue over a broken contract?

For a written contract, Florida allows five years. For an oral or implied contract, the period is four. A suit to rescind a contract also has four years, and a fraud claim has four years from discovery, with a twelve year cap.

How does a partition action work?

The court divides jointly owned land or, when that is impractical, orders it sold and distributes the proceeds. Commissioners appointed by the court evaluate whether division is feasible, and special rules apply when the property is heirs property.

Does every business dispute end up in court?

No. Many resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and some agreements require those steps before suit. The firm is experienced in alternative dispute resolution and pursues the route most likely to meet your goals efficiently.

What happens if my operating agreement has a deadlock sale clause?

If that clause is started before a court finds that deadlock grounds exist, it can take the place of judicial dissolution or a court-ordered buyout, provided it is carried through. Timing and wording matter, so the clause should be examined before any lawsuit is filed.

Can a court appoint someone to run the company while we fight?

In a dissolution case, a court can appoint a receiver or custodian once it finds sufficient merit and holds a hearing with notice to the parties. The court can also issue injunctions and take other steps to preserve company assets.

My dispute involves a one-year deadline. What is that about?

An action seeking specific performance, meaning an order forcing a party to complete a contract such as a property sale, must be filed within one year. That is much shorter than the ordinary contract period, so these claims should be evaluated quickly.

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

Often, yes, because the cost of a quick review is modest compared to losing a claim to a missed deadline or a badly worded release. Disputes under the county court limit are heard there, and claims above it go to circuit court. A lawyer can tell you which applies and whether the case is worth the cost.

I live out of state. Can you handle my Lantana-area case?

Yes. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with business or real estate interests in South Florida, handling the court appearances locally and keeping you updated.

Serving Business Litigation Clients Across Palm Beach and Broward Counties

The firm represents clients in Lantana and throughout Palm Beach County, including nearby Lake Worth Beach, Boynton Beach, Manalapan, Hypoluxo, Palm Beach, West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, and Boca Raton. Farther north, we serve owners and investors in Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, and Royal Palm Beach, and further west in Wellington and Belle Glade. In Broward County, we handle cases for clients in Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, Plantation, Hollywood, and the surrounding communities.

Whether the dispute involves a partnership in Lantana, a shared investment property in Boynton Beach, or a family company with owners scattered between South Florida and the Northeast, the same work applies: reading the agreements closely, identifying the deadlines, and choosing between negotiation and litigation based on what the client actually needs.

Speak With a Lantana Business Litigation Attorney Today

If a partner, co-owner, or counterparty has put your company, investment, or property at risk, a conversation with a Lantana business litigation attorney at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a practical place to start. We will review your agreements, explain which deadlines and remedies apply, and tell you candidly whether the case calls for negotiation, mediation, or a lawsuit. Call us to schedule a consultation.