Miramar Business Litigation Attorney

When a co-owner stops answering questions about where the money went, or a contract you relied on gets ignored, the dispute usually reaches Miramar’s businesses long before it reaches a courtroom. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate litigation for owners, investors, and families in Miramar, Broward County, Palm Beach County, and the rest of South Florida.

If you are searching for a Miramar business litigation attorney, you are probably weighing a decision that cannot wait: whether to demand an accounting, seek an injunction, negotiate a buyout, or file suit. Miramar sits in Broward County, so most of these disputes are filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which has a dedicated complex business division for larger commercial cases. Some matters belong in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida instead. Choosing the right forum and the right timing early shapes everything that follows.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Miramar Business Disputes

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in some of South Florida’s hardest business and real estate disputes, with clients in Miramar, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and throughout Broward and Palm Beach Counties. The firm also represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or property interests here and want a Florida litigator to handle the local proceedings. Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, has spent 37 years in litigation and has practiced in Florida since being admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989. He holds an undergraduate degree from Emory University (1986) and a law degree from the University of Miami (1989). His work centers on complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders.

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 matters in Broward, where a dispute can start in the circuit court and end up in federal court depending on the parties and claims.

The firm works as a true legal team, so everyone on your matter knows the file. Calls are answered, and the firm keeps a strict 24 hour return call policy when attorneys are in court. Mr. Schwartz’s view is that clients usually want a lawyer who acts as the situation requires and uses finesse when finesse will do, with fees that make common sense. The firm is experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as trial. Recent proof of the courtroom side: after a 5-day bench trial, a Broward County Circuit Court judge entered a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract.

Business Disputes We Handle for Miramar Owners and Investors

• Business Divorce: Partners, LLC members, and shareholders who can no longer work together face deadlocked management, valuation fights, and buyout negotiations. Outcomes range from a negotiated purchase to a structured wind-down to court-ordered dissolution.
• Complex Contract Litigation: Purchase agreements, operating and shareholder agreements, commercial leases, loan documents, and construction contracts often turn on exact wording and the parties’ course of dealing.
• Missing Funds and Money Disputes: Unpaid distributions, diverted company funds, disputed capital contributions, and commingled accounts can support claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, and recovery of funds.
• Family Business Disputes: Siblings who inherited a company, parents and children with different visions, and in-laws who share ownership need discretion alongside firm financial protection.
• Partition Actions and Title Disputes: Co-owners of real estate, including former business partners, heirs, and unmarried couples, can ask a court to divide or sell the property. Quiet title actions clear competing ownership claims.
• Injunctions and Emergency Relief: Temporary and permanent injunctions can stop assets from being moved, spent, or encumbered while a case is pending.
• Real Estate Transaction Disputes: Failed closings, purchase and sale contract disputes, and landlord and tenant conflicts often overlap with business ownership questions.
• Outside General Counsel Matters: Contract, compliance, and operational questions handled early, with the firm serving as registered agent, often prevent a disagreement from becoming a lawsuit.

Decisions to Make in the First Weeks of a Business Dispute

The first decision is whether this is a dispute you can still negotiate. If the relationship is salvageable, a demand letter or early mediation may preserve the company. If money is moving, waiting is the mistake. A court can enter injunctive relief to freeze transfers, and in dissolution cases it can appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing. The earlier you document what is missing, the stronger that request.

Second, gather the paper before the dispute hardens: the operating agreement or shareholder agreement, articles, amendments, bank statements, tax returns, K-1s, capital contribution records, and the emails or texts that show what the parties agreed to. Do not delete anything, and do not move money yourself in response. Self-help often hands the other side a counterclaim.

Third, check your agreement for a buyout, deadlock, or dispute-resolution clause. Some agreements require mediation or arbitration before suit. A deadlock sale provision, if one is initiated before a court finds deadlock grounds, can take the place of a judicial dissolution order. Reading these clauses before filing avoids a motion that the case belongs somewhere else.

Fourth, watch the clock. Florida gives five years to sue on a written contract and four years on an oral or implied one. Fraud claims run four years from discovery, capped at 12 years. A specific performance action has only one year. Negligence-based claims and professional malpractice claims have two-year periods. Which deadline applies depends on how the claim is framed, so identify it early rather than after months of negotiating.

Finally, pick the forum. Disputes between $8,000.01 and the county court ceiling go to county civil court, and larger ones go to circuit court. For Miramar clients, that means the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit in Broward County, whose complex business division handles matters such as dissolution of business entities and large business and construction cases. Cases may be filed directly into that division by following the circuit’s administrative order and submitting the required form with the Clerk. If the case has Palm Beach County ties, the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit may be the proper venue. Federal court in Fort Lauderdale or West Palm Beach may apply when jurisdiction exists.

How Florida Law Handles Dissolution, Buyouts, and Partition

For an LLC, a member or manager can ask the circuit court for dissolution on several grounds: the company’s affairs are conducted unlawfully, it is not reasonably practicable to operate under the articles and operating agreement, controlling members are acting or expected to act illegally or fraudulently, assets are being misappropriated or wasted, or managers or members are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened. A court can also appoint a receiver or custodian, or order the purchase of a petitioning member’s interest instead of dissolving.

Corporations follow a parallel track. A shareholder can seek judicial dissolution, and the corporation or other shareholders may elect to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value to avoid dissolution. If the parties agree on fair value and terms within 60 days after the first election is filed, the court enters an order directing that purchase. An election to purchase is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to set aside or modify it. Within 30 days after such a proceeding begins, the corporation must notify the other shareholders that they may elect to buy. During the case, a court can issue injunctions, appoint a receiver or custodian, and take other steps to preserve assets.

Partition is the real estate counterpart. Partition actions are brought in chancery, and the complaint must describe the land, name the owners and their residences, and state each owner’s share. After a judgment of partition, the court appoints three commissioners. If they report that division cannot be made without prejudice to the owners, the court may order a public sale and divide the proceeds by ownership share. A sale on credit requires good cause and at least one-third of the price paid down unless everyone consents. Where the property qualifies as heirs property under Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, a separate set of protections applies, including limits on forced sale. Quiet title actions are a different tool: they ask the court to cancel a conveyance or cloud on title, and the plaintiff generally must trace title back at least seven years.

Miramar Business Litigation Questions Answered

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, a structured wind-down, or 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 conduct involved. Many agreements contain buyout, expulsion, or dissociation provisions, and Florida law provides court remedies when a member’s misconduct or a deadlock makes operation impracticable. An attorney needs to read your agreement 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 funds. When assets are at risk, a court can issue injunctive relief to stop them from being moved or spent while the case proceeds.

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

Five years for a contract founded on a written instrument, and four years for an oral or implied contract. Other claims, such as specific performance (one year) or fraud (four years from discovery), have their own periods.

Which court handles a business dispute from Miramar?

Miramar is in Broward County, so state court cases are generally filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, and larger commercial matters may be directed to its complex business division. Federal cases belong in the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

How does a partition action work?

A co-owner asks the court to divide the property or, if division is impractical, to order a sale and split the proceeds by ownership share. Commissioners appointed by the court report on whether the land can be divided fairly.

Does an arbitration clause stop me from going to court?

Often it requires that the dispute start in arbitration or mediation. Emergency relief, such as an injunction to preserve assets, may still be sought in court depending on the agreement’s wording and the circumstances.

My partner is a family member. Does that change how you handle the case?

The law applies the same way, but the strategy differs. Family disputes often benefit from quieter resolution through mediation or a negotiated buyout, while still protecting your financial position and preserving evidence.

I live in New York or New Jersey. Can I litigate a Miramar business dispute without relocating?

Yes. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, handles the local court appearances, and keeps you informed so you do not need to travel for every hearing. Scheduled conference calls can be arranged around your calendar.

Can a court stop my partner from selling company property while we litigate?

It can. Temporary injunctions exist for exactly that purpose, and early or emergency relief is available when the facts show assets are being moved or dissipated. The strength of your documentation drives the result.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer before any lawsuit is filed?

Often, yes. A review of the operating agreement, a well-timed demand, or an early mediation can resolve a dispute at a fraction of the cost of litigation, and it protects deadlines and evidence if the case does proceed.

Do you work with other attorneys on referrals?

Yes. A significant part of the practice comes from other lawyers, including out of state counsel whose clients have Florida disputes. The firm communicates with referring counsel throughout and respects their relationship with the client.

Serving Business Litigation Clients Across Miramar and South Florida

The firm represents business owners and property investors in Miramar and across Broward County, including Pembroke Pines, Hollywood, Hallandale Beach, Davie, Weston, Cooper City, Pembroke Park, West Park, Plantation, Sunrise, Fort Lauderdale, Coral Springs, Parkland, Coconut Creek, Margate, Pompano Beach, and Deerfield Beach. We also serve Palm Beach County, from Boca Raton and Delray Beach through Boynton Beach, Wellington, and West Palm Beach. Clients in neighboring Miami-Dade communities with Broward or Palm Beach business interests are welcome as well, as are owners living in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold companies or real estate here.

Whether the dispute involves a medical practice, a construction company, a family-held property, or an investment partnership, the same questions drive the work: what the agreement says, where the money went, and how to reach a resolution that serves the client’s goals and budget.

Speak With a Miramar Business Litigation Lawyer Today

A business dispute rarely improves with delay. Deadlines run, records disappear, and money moves. If you are looking for a Miramar business litigation lawyer who will review your agreements, tell you plainly where you stand, and pursue negotiation, mediation, or trial as the case requires, contact the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team. Call to schedule a consultation and bring your operating agreement and financial records with you.