Palm Beach County Breach of Contract Attorney

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, landlords, and families across Palm Beach County who have been shortchanged, stalled, or stonewalled by someone who signed an agreement and then stopped honoring it. From West Palm Beach to Boca Raton and Delray Beach, our work as a Palm Beach County breach of contract attorney covers purchase agreements, operating agreements, commercial leases, loan documents, construction contracts, and the other high-value arrangements South Florida businesses run on.

Most contract disputes are decided before anyone stands up in a courtroom. They are decided by the exact words on the page, by what the parties did in the months leading up to the dispute, and by whether the injured party moved within the time Florida allows. A claim on a written contract carries a five-year limitations period, while an oral or implied agreement gets four. A suit asking a court to compel performance of a deal, such as a real estate closing, has only one year. Waiting to see if the other side comes around is how strong claims die.

Whether you are the party who was not paid, the party accused of not performing, or a co-owner whose partner is ignoring an operating agreement, the first questions are the same: what does the document actually say, what happened, and what remedy is realistic? We start there.

Contract Disputes We Handle for Palm Beach County Clients

• Purchase and Sale Agreements: Failed closings, buyers who walk away from commercial real estate deals, sellers who refuse to convey, and disputes over deposits. When the property itself is the point of the deal, a court can sometimes order the transaction completed rather than simply award money.
• Operating and Shareholder Agreements: A member who ignores buyout terms, a manager who violates decision-making provisions, or an owner who takes distributions the agreement does not allow. These cases often overlap with fiduciary duty and dissolution claims.
• Commercial Leases: Unpaid rent, abandoned premises, improper use, disputes over build-out obligations, and personal guaranties that landlords and tenants disagree about once the business struggles.
• Loan and Financing Documents: Default declarations, disputed payoff amounts, guaranty enforcement, and private lending arrangements between investors where the paperwork was thin.
• Construction Contracts: Owners and contractors fighting over unfinished work, change orders, payment holdbacks, and defects, a steady source of disputes in a market with constant building and renovation.
• Unpaid Distributions and Missing Funds: Claims where a partner or manager cannot explain where company money went, including commingled accounts, diverted funds, and disputed capital contributions.
• Residential Landlord and Tenant Disputes: Lease violations, nonpayment, and termination notices governed by Florida’s landlord-tenant statute, where the notice requirements are strict and mistakes can derail the whole case.
• Family and Friend Business Agreements: Handshake deals and loosely written arrangements between relatives or longtime friends, where the claim often turns on proving what the parties actually agreed to.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for a Contract Dispute

The Andrew M. Founder Andrew M. Schwartz has spent 37 years in litigation, was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989, and built his career around contract enforcement and interpretation, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders. He earned his undergraduate degree at Emory University in 1986 and his law degree at the University of Miami in 1989. The firm serves Palm Beach County, Broward County, and clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or real estate interests in South Florida.

Andrew is joined by Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts. That matters in contract work, because the forum is sometimes a choice rather than a given. The firm practices as a true team, so everyone working on your file knows it, and we keep a strict 24 hour return call policy when we are in court and cannot pick up right away.

A recent result shows the kind of contract work we do. After a five-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court, the court issued a 32-page final judgment granting our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. Specific performance is a demanding remedy, and it only comes from a record built carefully around the contract language and the parties’ conduct. No attorney can guarantee a result, but that is the level of preparation we bring to every file.

We also take cost seriously. Clients often arrive wanting the most aggressive lawyer available, but what most of them want is someone who acts as the situation requires and uses finesse when finesse will do. Our attorneys are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and we look for the resolution that fits your goals and budget rather than stretching a case out for its own sake. Many of our matters also come to us through referrals from other attorneys, including out of state counsel whose clients have disputes in Florida.

What to Do When the Other Side Breaks the Deal

Start by gathering paper. Pull the signed agreement and every amendment, then collect emails, texts, invoices, bank records, and any correspondence in which the other side acknowledged the obligation or explained why they were not performing. In a contract case, the way the parties behaved before the dispute often carries as much weight as the document, and that evidence disappears when phones are replaced and email accounts are closed. Preserve everything, and do not delete anything, even messages that seem unhelpful.

Next, read the contract for the provisions that control what happens when things go wrong: notice and cure requirements, a clause requiring mediation or arbitration before suit, a choice of law or venue provision, and any language shifting attorney fees to the losing party. Missing a required written notice can hand the other side an easy defense. If the agreement requires arbitration, the dispute may never reach a courthouse at all, and the strategy changes accordingly.

Then watch the calendar. The five-year period for written contracts and four-year period for oral or implied ones run from the breach, not from the moment you finally decide to act. Fraud claims carry their own four-year clock measured from discovery, and a request to compel performance of a deal has only one year. If you suspect professional negligence by someone you hired, a two-year period can apply. Because different theories carry different deadlines, a single dispute can contain claims that are alive and claims that are about to expire.

Where the case is filed depends largely on the amount at stake. Claims above the county court ceiling belong in circuit court, which in Palm Beach County means the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, sitting in West Palm Beach at the main courthouse, with branch courthouses in Palm Beach Gardens, Royal Palm Beach, Delray Beach, and Belle Glade. Smaller claims go to county civil court, and the smallest to small claims. Cases that qualify for federal court go to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale.

The most common mistakes are predictable. People send angry emails that later read as admissions, accept partial payments without documenting what the payment was for, keep performing for months without reserving their rights, or wait for a settlement that never materializes while the deadline approaches. Talk to a lawyer before you send the demand letter, not after. When money or assets are being moved while the dispute is pending, we can seek emergency injunctive relief to stop it.

Remedies Available When a Contract Is Breached

Money damages are the usual remedy: the amount needed to put you where you would have been had the contract been performed. That can include lost profits, unpaid balances, and out-of-pocket costs, provided you can prove them with reasonable certainty. Courts look closely at damages that are speculative, so the financial proof is as important as the breach itself.

When money is not enough, equitable remedies come into play. Specific performance can compel a party to complete a unique transaction, such as conveying a particular property. Rescission unwinds a deal when it was tainted by fraud or a fundamental failure, with a four-year limitations period. Injunctions can freeze assets or stop conduct that would cause harm a later judgment could not repair. Many agreements also include attorney fee provisions, which change the economics of a case in both directions, so they deserve attention before you file or respond.

For co-owners, a contract breach can open the door to broader remedies. Under Florida’s LLC statute, a court can order dissolution when owners are deadlocked and the company is being irreparably harmed, when assets are being misappropriated or wasted, or when it is not reasonably practicable to operate under the operating agreement. Courts can appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order a buyout of the petitioning member’s interest. If an operating agreement contains its own deadlock sale mechanism, that process may take priority over a judicial order once it is properly initiated.

Palm Beach County Breach of Contract Questions Answered

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

For a contract founded on a written instrument, the period is five years. For oral or implied contracts, it is four years. The clock generally runs from the breach. The 2023 tort reform changes shortened the negligence deadline to two years but did not change the five-year written contract period.

Does an oral agreement count as a contract?

Often it does, but proving it is harder. You will rely on emails, texts, payments, and witnesses to show what was agreed. Some categories of agreements must be in writing to be enforceable, so the type of deal matters.

Can a court force someone to complete a real estate deal?

Yes, in appropriate cases. Because every parcel is considered unique, courts can order specific performance of a real estate contract. That remedy has a one-year limitations period, so those claims move on a short clock.

What is the difference between county court and circuit court for a contract claim?

County civil court hears claims up to a set dollar ceiling, and circuit court hears larger ones. Small claims handles the lowest-value disputes. Those thresholds are adjusted periodically, so confirm the current limits before choosing a forum.

What if my contract says disputes must go to arbitration?

Florida courts generally enforce arbitration clauses. If yours applies, the dispute is resolved in arbitration rather than court. We have experience with both arbitration and courtroom litigation, and we review the clause early because it shapes everything that follows.

Can I recover my attorney fees if I win?

Only if the contract or a statute provides for it. Many commercial agreements include a fee-shifting clause, and some are written so that both sides are covered. Read that provision before filing, because it can cut against you as easily as for you.

My business partner stopped paying me my share. Is that a breach of contract?

It can be, depending on the operating or partnership agreement. It may also support claims for an accounting and breach of fiduciary duty. The right claim, and the right deadline, depends on how the agreement is written and what the partner actually did.

Can I still sue if the other party has no money?

You can, but collectability affects strategy. A Florida judgment remains enforceable for twenty years, which gives you time to pursue assets that surface later. We discuss realistic recovery early so you can decide whether a claim is worth the cost.

I live in New York or New Jersey. Can I pursue a contract claim in Palm Beach County without moving here?

Yes. We regularly represent clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut whose counterparties are in South Florida. We handle the local court appearances and keep you informed so you do not have to travel for every hearing.

How long does a contract case take in Palm Beach County?

It varies with the amount at stake, the complexity of the evidence, and how hard the other side fights. The Fifteenth Circuit assigns civil cases to differentiated case management tracks, which affects pacing. Many disputes resolve through negotiation or mediation well before trial, and we pursue that path when it serves your goals.

Should I hire a lawyer for a smaller contract dispute?

It depends on the numbers. For modest claims, a demand letter or small claims filing may be enough, and we will tell you plainly if litigation costs would outweigh the recovery. For disputes involving significant money, real property, or business ownership, early legal input usually pays for itself.

Serving Contract Dispute Clients Across Palm Beach County

Our work for Palm Beach County clients extends from West Palm Beach, where the main county courthouse sits, through Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, Juno Beach, and North Palm Beach to the north. We represent businesses and owners in Lake Worth Beach, Boynton Beach, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, and Greenacres, and in the coastal and inland communities of Delray Beach, Highland Beach, and Boca Raton to the south. Clients also come to us from Belle Glade and the western communities, and from Palm Beach and Riviera Beach along the coast.

Because many contract disputes cross county lines, we also serve clients throughout neighboring Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, and the surrounding communities, as well as out of state clients whose business partners, tenants, or counterparties are in South Florida.

Speak With a Palm Beach County Breach of Contract Lawyer

If someone has broken an agreement that your business, investment, or property depends on, the deadlines are already running. Our Palm Beach County breach of contract lawyer team can review the agreement, assess the claim, and tell you honestly whether to negotiate, mediate, arbitrate, or file suit. Call the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team to schedule a consultation and get a clear picture of where you stand.