Palm Beach Breach of Contract Attorney

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in Palm Beach County who are caught in contract disputes, and the firm also serves clients across Broward County and the rest of South Florida. A Palm Beach breach of contract attorney is usually called in after a deal has already gone wrong: a buyer who will not close, a partner who ignores the operating agreement, a landlord or tenant who stopped performing, a contractor who walked off a job. The first question is rarely “who is right?” It is “how long do I have, and what is the document actually going to let me do?”

That second question is where most contract cases are won or lost. Florida courts read the written agreement closely, and they look hard at how the parties behaved before the dispute. A clause that seemed like boilerplate when it was signed, such as a notice provision, a cure period, a venue clause, or a fee-shifting term, can decide the entire case. The firm’s litigation practice has been built around exactly that kind of close reading.

Contract Disputes the Firm Handles for Palm Beach County Clients

Contract litigation covers a wide range of deals. The matters that come through most often tend to fall into the categories below, and each one has its own pressure points.

• Purchase and Sale Agreements: Failed closings on commercial and residential property, disputes over deposits, financing and inspection contingencies, and buyers or sellers who refuse to perform. These cases can end in damages or, where money cannot make the injured party whole, an order forcing the sale to go forward.
• Operating and Shareholder Agreements: A member or shareholder who breaches buyout terms, ignores transfer restrictions, or violates management provisions. These often overlap with fiduciary duty claims and can lead to dissolution proceedings.
• Commercial Leases: Unpaid rent, abandoned premises, improper terminations, disputes over build-out obligations, and personal guaranties that landlords try to enforce against owners individually.
• Loan and Financing Documents: Defaults, acceleration, guaranty enforcement, and disputes over what a promissory note or loan agreement actually requires of each side.
• Construction Contracts: Payment disputes between owners, general contractors, and subcontractors, defective or incomplete work, and delay claims on projects across the county.
• Unpaid Distributions and Missing Money: Partners or managers who withhold profit distributions, divert company funds, commingle accounts, or cannot account for capital contributions.
• Verbal and Implied Agreements: Handshake deals between business associates or family members, where the case depends on proving what was promised through emails, texts, payment history, and witnesses.

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

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm representing clients in Palm Beach County, Broward County, and throughout South Florida, along with clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or property interests here. Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, has spent 37 years in litigation, was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989, and has built his practice around complex contract disputes. He earned his undergraduate degree at Emory University in 1986 and his law degree at the University of Miami in 1989.

Andrew is joined by Sundeep Nath, Senior Counsel, a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts. That federal experience matters in this region, since contract disputes with out-of-state parties or large amounts at stake sometimes belong in the Southern District of Florida, which sits in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale.

The firm works as a true legal team, so everyone on a matter knows the file and can answer a client’s question without a round of catching up. There is a strict 24-hour return call policy when the lawyers are in court. The firm is experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and it aims for the result that fits the client’s goals and budget rather than stretching a case out for its own sake.

A recent result shows what contract litigation looks like when it goes the distance. After a five-day bench trial, a Broward County Circuit Court judge issued a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. Specific performance is the remedy where a court orders a party to actually carry out the deal, which is often what a buyer of unique property really wants. A significant portion of the firm’s work also arrives by referral from other attorneys, including out-of-state lawyers whose clients have disputes in Florida.

Deadlines That Control a Florida Contract Claim

Florida sets different limitation periods depending on how the contract was formed and what remedy is sought, and mixing them up is one of the costliest errors a claimant can make.

A lawsuit on a written contract must be filed within five years. A claim based on an oral or implied agreement gets four years. Those periods did not change when the Legislature shortened the negligence deadline to two years in 2023, so contract claims were left alone while negligence claims were cut. An action to rescind a contract has four years. A fraud claim runs four years from discovery, with an outer cap of 12 years.

The shortest deadline in this group is the one many people miss: an action for specific performance carries a one-year period. If your goal is to force a counterparty to close on a property or honor a purchase agreement, waiting even a year can forfeit that remedy, even though a damages claim might remain available for longer. Professional malpractice claims, whether framed in contract or tort, have their own two-year period that runs from when the problem was or should have been discovered.

Contracts can also shorten or condition your rights through notice requirements, cure periods, and dispute resolution clauses. A contract that requires written notice of default before suing, or that sends disputes to mediation or arbitration first, has to be followed or the claim may be delayed or thrown out.

What to Do Once You Think a Contract Has Been Breached

Start by gathering the paper. Pull the signed agreement and every amendment, addendum, and exhibit, then collect the emails, text messages, invoices, payment records, and meeting notes that show how the deal actually operated. Courts care about the history between the parties, and the strongest cases are the ones where the documents tell the story without anyone’s memory having to fill gaps. Do not delete anything, even messages that look unhelpful.

Read the contract for its own procedure before you send a demand. Many agreements require notice to a specific address, by a specific method, and give the other side a window to cure. Skipping that step can hand the other party an argument that you never properly declared a default. If you are the one being accused, stop and read the same provisions before you respond, because an angry email can become an exhibit.

Be careful about stopping your own performance. A party that withholds payment or walks away because the other side breached can end up on the wrong end of the case if the breach was not material or the contract required notice first. That decision deserves a lawyer’s review before you act on it.

Where the money at stake is large or assets are at risk of being moved, speed matters in a different way. Courts can issue temporary injunctions to freeze a situation while the case is pending, and that kind of relief only helps if it is sought promptly.

Where the case is filed depends on the amount. Smaller claims go to the county court’s civil division, and the smallest are small claims. Broward County disputes go to the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which has its own Complex Business Division for larger commercial cases. Federal court in West Palm Beach or Fort Lauderdale is an option when the legal requirements for federal jurisdiction are met.

Finally, ask what a win actually looks like before you file. A judgment is only as good as the other side’s ability to pay it, and a case that would cost more than it recovers may be better resolved through mediation or negotiation. Part of the firm’s job at the first meeting is giving an honest read on that question.

Remedies Available When a Contract Is Broken

The usual remedy is money damages, meant to put the injured party where performance would have left them. That can include lost profits, out-of-pocket losses, and, where the contract or a statute allows, attorney’s fees. Read the fee provision carefully; in many Florida contract cases it cuts both ways, so the losing side may end up paying the winner’s legal bills.

Where money is not enough, equity steps in. Specific performance compels a party to perform, which is common with real property because no two parcels are identical. Rescission unwinds the deal. An accounting forces a partner or manager to explain where the money went. Injunctions can stop a party from moving assets or violating a restrictive covenant while the case plays out.

When the breach is by a business partner or co-owner, the dispute often grows beyond the contract. Claims for breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, and recovery of diverted funds can sit alongside the contract count. In an LLC, a court can dissolve the company where assets are being misappropriated or wasted, where managers are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened, or where it is not reasonably practicable to carry on the business under the operating agreement. A court can also appoint a receiver or order a buyout of a member’s interest in place of dissolution.

Questions About Palm Beach Contract Disputes

What counts as a breach of contract in Florida?

A breach occurs when a party fails to perform something the agreement required without a legal excuse. To recover, you generally need to show a valid contract, a material breach, and damages resulting from it. Minor deviations may not support a claim, while a failure that defeats the purpose of the deal usually does.

How long do I have to sue on a written contract?

Five years for a claim founded on a written instrument. Oral and implied contracts get four years. Those periods are measured from when the breach occurred, so do not assume you have the full time if the breach happened long ago.

Is a verbal agreement enforceable?

Often yes, but proof is harder, and certain categories of agreements must be in writing under Florida law. Emails, texts, payment patterns, and witnesses can establish what was agreed. The limitation period is shorter than for a written contract.

Can I force someone to complete a real estate deal instead of just paying damages?

Specific performance is available in appropriate cases, particularly with real property, but it must be sought within one year. The firm obtained a specific performance judgment for a client in a commercial real estate case after a bench trial in Broward County.

Do I have to go to court?

Not always. Many contracts require mediation or arbitration first, and many disputes settle through negotiation. The firm’s lawyers are experienced in alternative dispute resolution as well as trials, and they pursue whichever route best serves the client’s goals.

Where will my case be filed?

Claims above the county court limit belong in circuit court. Palm Beach County cases go to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit and Broward County cases to the Seventeenth. Contract venue clauses can change that, so the agreement needs to be read first.

What if the other side says I breached first?

Counterclaims are common. A party that committed the first material breach may be barred from enforcing the contract. Getting the sequence of events right, supported by documents, is a major part of preparing the case.

Will I have to pay the other side’s attorney’s fees if I lose?

It depends on the contract. Many agreements include a prevailing party fee clause, and Florida courts generally enforce those clauses reciprocally. Check this before filing or defending.

I live in New York or New Jersey. Can I still bring a claim over a Palm Beach deal?

Yes. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with business or property interests in South Florida. The firm handles local court appearances and keeps out-of-state clients informed so they do not need to travel for every proceeding.

My partner is draining the company while we fight about the contract. What can I do?

Besides damages, you may be able to seek an accounting, recovery of diverted funds, and emergency injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved or spent. Courts can also appoint a receiver or custodian in an LLC dissolution case after a hearing. Acting early improves the chances that there is still something left to recover.

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

Sometimes a demand letter from counsel resolves it. Sometimes the amount belongs in county court or small claims, where cost matters most. A candid early conversation about the numbers helps decide whether a fight is worth having.

Serving Contract Litigation Clients Across Palm Beach County and Beyond

The firm represents clients throughout Palm Beach County, from West Palm Beach and Palm Beach Gardens in the north to Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, and Boca Raton in the south. We also work with clients in Jupiter, Lake Worth, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Greenacres, Lantana, Riviera Beach, North Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Highland Beach, and the western communities such as Belle Glade.

Just to the south, the firm serves Broward County clients in Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Coconut Creek, Coral Springs, Pompano Beach, Hollywood, Plantation, and surrounding communities. Contract disputes tied to South Florida businesses and property also draw clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who need a Florida litigator to handle local proceedings.

Talk to a Palm Beach Breach of Contract Lawyer Before the Deadline Decides for You

If a deal has fallen apart and you are weighing your options, a conversation with a Palm Beach breach of contract lawyer at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can tell you which claims you have, which clock is running, and whether litigation, mediation, or a negotiated exit makes the most sense. Call the firm to schedule a consultation and get a straight assessment of your agreement and your leverage.