Palm Beach County Contract Litigation Attorney

A contract dispute in Palm Beach County usually turns on two things: the exact words the parties signed and the paper trail of how they behaved afterward. Whether the agreement is a purchase contract, an operating agreement, a commercial lease, or a loan document, the outcome often depends on a handful of clauses and the correspondence surrounding them. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate litigation for clients in Palm Beach County, Broward County, and throughout South Florida, and contract enforcement sits at the center of that work. Our Palm Beach County contract litigation attorney team represents both the party enforcing a deal and the party defending against a claim that it was breached.

The first question in any contract case is not “who is right?” but “what kind of claim is this, and how long do I have?” A written contract, an oral agreement, a request to unwind a deal, and a demand that a seller actually close all follow different clocks and call for different remedies. Getting that classification wrong at the start can cost a client a claim that was perfectly sound on the merits.

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

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in South Florida’s difficult business and real estate disputes, with a practice built around complex contract litigation. Firm founder Andrew M. Schwartz was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989 and has spent 37 years in litigation. He earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989. Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator, brings years of business and real estate experience in both state and federal courts, which matters when a contract dispute may end up in either forum.

The firm practices as a true legal team: everyone working on a matter knows the file, so a client who calls with a question reaches someone who can answer it. The firm keeps a strict 24 hour return call policy, and its attorneys are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation. That range lets us match the forum to the dispute instead of litigating by default.

The results reflect that preparation. After a 5-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court, the court issued a 32-page final judgment awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. Obtaining an order that forces a deal to close, rather than only collecting money damages, is among the harder outcomes in contract litigation, and it depends on careful attention to the contract language and the parties’ dealings from the first day of the case.

Types of Contract Disputes We Handle in Palm Beach County

• Purchase and Sale Agreements: Failed closings, disputes over deposits, financing and inspection contingencies, and claims that a buyer or seller walked away without a valid contractual reason. Some of these end in a demand for specific performance.
• Operating Agreements and Shareholder Agreements: Disputes among LLC members and shareholders over distributions, management authority, buyout formulas, transfer restrictions, and whether one owner has breached the agreement that governs the company.
• Commercial Leases: Disagreements over rent escalations, common area charges, personal guaranties, defaults, and early termination, for tenants and landlords alike.
• Loan Documents and Guaranties: Default, acceleration, and enforcement disputes between lenders, borrowers, and individuals who signed personal guaranties on business debt.
• Construction Contracts: Payment disputes, change orders, defective or incomplete work, and delay claims between owners, contractors, and subcontractors.
• Unpaid Distributions and Diverted Funds: Contract claims that overlap with breach of fiduciary duty, accountings, and recovery of money a partner or manager cannot explain.
• Partnership and Joint Venture Agreements: Disputes over who contributed what, how profits are split, and what happens when one partner wants out.
• Oral and Implied Agreements: Claims built on handshake deals, emails, and a course of dealing rather than a single signed document, which require more proof but are still enforceable in many situations.

What to Do Now If You Think a Contract Has Been Breached

Start by locating the complete agreement, including every amendment, exhibit, side letter, and related document. Contract cases are won and lost on wording, and a missing amendment can change the analysis. Then collect the correspondence: emails, texts, invoices, bank records, and anything that shows what each side did and said before and after the problem surfaced. Do not alter, delete, or “clean up” any of it, because courts take the loss of records seriously.

Read the dispute resolution provisions before you do anything else. Many agreements require notice and an opportunity to cure, mediation, or arbitration before a lawsuit can be filed, and some specify a venue or a prevailing-party attorney fee clause. Missing a notice requirement can hand the other side an early defense. If the agreement is silent, the case will be filed in court, and the dollar amount largely decides where. County court hears claims above the small claims level up to a limit that is adjusted periodically, while larger disputes go to the Circuit Court of the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Palm Beach County. Cases with diverse parties or federal claims may belong in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in West Palm Beach as well as Fort Lauderdale.

Be careful about what you put in writing to the other side. Angry emails and partial admissions routinely resurface as exhibits. Route communications about the dispute through counsel when you can. If money or assets are at risk of disappearing, say so early; a court can issue injunctive relief to stop funds from being moved or spent while the case is pending, and that request cannot wait until the end of a negotiation.

Finally, calendar the deadline. Florida allows five years to sue on a contract founded on a written instrument, and four years for contract claims that are not founded on a written instrument, such as oral or implied agreements. Other claims that often travel with a contract case run on shorter or different clocks: a request to rescind a contract has four years, a fraud claim has four years from discovery with an outer limit of 12 years, and an action for specific performance has only one year. Negligence and professional malpractice claims, even when tied to a contract relationship, carry two years. Because the label on a claim controls its deadline, an early review of the facts matters more than most clients expect.

Remedies: Damages, Specific Performance, Rescission, and Injunctions

Clients often assume a breach of contract case ends in a check. Money damages are the default remedy, but they are not the only one, and sometimes they are the wrong one. When the subject of the contract is unique, as a particular parcel of commercial real estate is, a court sitting in equity can order the breaching party to perform the contract. Specific performance is the remedy our firm obtained after a five-day bench trial in Broward County, and it requires a showing that the client was ready, willing, and able to perform and that money alone would not make the client whole. Because the limitations period for that remedy is short, a buyer who wants the property rather than a refund cannot afford to wait.

Rescission works the other way: instead of enforcing the deal, the court unwinds it, typically where there was fraud, mutual mistake, or a failure of consideration. Declaratory relief asks a court to say what the contract means before a breach occurs, which can be valuable when parties disagree over a renewal option or a termination right and neither wants to gamble on guessing wrong. Temporary and permanent injunctions round out the toolkit, particularly where assets, property, or business operations need protection while the dispute is resolved.

Contract Disputes Between Business Co-Owners

Some of the most consequential contract cases are not between a company and an outside vendor but among the people who own the company. An operating agreement or shareholder agreement is a contract, and when owners deadlock or one owner is accused of diverting funds, the dispute is both a contract case and a question of whether the business can continue. Florida law gives co-owners tools beyond a simple breach claim. For an LLC, a court can dissolve the company where management is deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened, where assets are being misappropriated or wasted, or where it is not reasonably practicable to operate under the agreement. The court may appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order a buyout of a petitioning member’s interest. Some operating agreements contain deadlock sale provisions that take priority if they are triggered before the court finds grounds for dissolution.

For corporations, a shareholder petitioning for dissolution can face an election by the company or other shareholders to purchase the petitioner’s shares at fair value, and if the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days of the first election, the court enters an order on those terms. Our firm handles these matters as part of its business divorce practice, and we often find that a well-drafted agreement, or a clear reading of a badly drafted one, is what makes a negotiated separation possible without a full trial.

Palm Beach County Contract Litigation: Questions We Hear

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 a contract claim not founded on a written instrument, such as an oral or implied agreement, it is four years. These periods did not change when Florida shortened the negligence deadline to two years in 2023.

Does a verbal agreement count as a contract?

Often it does, but the proof is harder. Without a signed document, the case rests on emails, texts, payment history, witness testimony, and how the parties behaved. Some categories of agreements must be in writing to be enforced, so the type of deal matters.

Can a court force someone to complete a deal rather than just pay damages?

Yes, through specific performance, most often in real estate cases where the property is unique. The action has a one-year limitations period, so a buyer or seller who wants the deal completed should move quickly.

Which court will hear my case?

Claims above the small claims level, up to a limit that is adjusted periodically, are heard in county court, and larger claims go to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Palm Beach County. Federal claims or cases between citizens of different states may be heard by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in West Palm Beach.

What if my contract has an arbitration clause?

Then the dispute may have to be resolved in arbitration rather than in court, depending on the clause’s wording and scope. Reviewing that language before filing anything is essential, because filing in the wrong forum can cost time and money. Our attorneys are experienced in both arbitration and courtroom litigation.

My business partner is taking money out of the company. Is that a contract claim?

It can be several claims at once: breach of the operating or shareholder agreement, breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, conversion, and recovery of funds. If assets are being moved, a court can be asked for injunctive relief to stop it while the case proceeds.

Can I recover my attorney fees if I win?

Only if the contract or a statute provides for them. Many commercial agreements include a prevailing-party fee clause, and it can change the settlement dynamics for both sides, so it is one of the first things to look for in the document.

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

It depends on the size and complexity of the dispute, the track the court assigns under its case management system, and whether the parties are willing to mediate. Cases that settle after document exchange resolve far sooner than those tried to a judge or jury. We aim for the path that serves the client’s goals and budget rather than prolonging a case for its own sake.

I live in New York, New Jersey, or Connecticut. Can you handle my Florida contract dispute?

Yes. We regularly represent clients from those states who have business partners, investment property, or contracts tied to South Florida. We handle the local court appearances and keep you informed so you do not have to travel for every hearing.

Do you work with other attorneys on contract cases?

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

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

Often a limited early engagement, such as reviewing the contract and sending a well-grounded demand letter, resolves a smaller dispute without a lawsuit. Whether full litigation makes sense depends on the amount at stake, the strength of the claim, and whether the agreement shifts fees to the loser.

Serving Contract Litigation Clients Across Palm Beach County

Our Palm Beach County contract work extends from West Palm Beach, where the main county courthouse sits, north through Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, Juno Beach, and Riviera Beach, and into Lake Park, North Palm Beach, and Tequesta. We represent business owners and investors in Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Lake Worth Beach, Greenacres, Boynton Beach, and Delray Beach, and we serve clients throughout Boca Raton, Highland Beach, and Lantana. Out west, we work with clients in Belle Glade and the surrounding communities.

Many contract disputes cross the county line, so we also represent clients in neighboring Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, and nearby communities, where the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit handles cases. We also serve clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or real estate interests in South Florida.

Speak With a Palm Beach County Contract Litigation Lawyer

If a contract has been breached, or you have been accused of breaching one, the strength of your position depends on decisions made early: which claims to bring, which forum to use, and what evidence to preserve. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team brings 37 years of litigation experience to disputes over purchase agreements, operating agreements, leases, loan documents, and construction contracts. Call to speak with a Palm Beach County contract litigation lawyer about your situation and what the agreement actually allows.