Palm Beach Gardens Business Attorney

A business dispute that starts in Palm Beach Gardens usually ends up in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Palm Beach County and handles larger commercial cases through its circuit civil divisions. Claims above the county court ceiling belong in circuit court, and that is where most partner fights, contract suits, and ownership battles end up. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business litigation and real estate firm that represents owners, investors, and families in Palm Beach Gardens, throughout Palm Beach County, and into Broward County, and we are the kind of Palm Beach Gardens business attorney that business owners call when a deal, a partner, or a piece of property goes wrong.

Most people searching for a business attorney fall into one of two groups. Some have a live problem: a partner who stopped answering questions about the books, a buyer who will not close, a landlord or tenant who has breached a commercial lease. Others want a lawyer in place before trouble starts, someone who can review contracts, serve as the company’s registered agent, and answer the questions that come up in running a company. We handle both, and the sections below explain how these cases actually work in Florida, what deadlines apply, and what to do in the first days.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Business Disputes in Palm Beach Gardens

The Andrew M. Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989 and has spent 37 years in litigation, with a career built around complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts between partners, LLC members, and shareholders. He earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989.

Sundeep Nath, Senior Counsel, is a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts. That matters in South Florida, where a dispute can end up in the Fifteenth Circuit, the Seventeenth Circuit in Broward County, or the federal Southern District of Florida, which holds court in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale among other cities.

The firm practices as a true legal team, which means everyone working on your matter knows the file. When you call, someone who understands your case answers, and a strict 24 hour return call policy applies if we are in court. Our attorneys are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and we look for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget rather than stretching a case out for its own sake.

The firm’s trial work includes a recent 5-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court that ended in a 32-page final judgment awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. A significant part of our practice also comes from referrals by other attorneys, including out of state lawyers whose clients have disputes in Florida.

Business Matters We Handle for Palm Beach Gardens Owners and Investors

• Business Divorce: Partners, LLC members, and shareholders who can no longer work together face deadlocked management, buyout and valuation fights, and claims that one owner is serving himself or herself at the company’s expense. The outcome may be a negotiated buyout, a sale, a structured wind-down, or court-ordered dissolution.
• Judicial Dissolution of LLCs and Corporations: Florida’s LLC statute lets a member or manager ask a circuit court to dissolve a company when owners are deadlocked and irreparable injury threatens the company, when assets are being misappropriated or wasted, or when it is no longer reasonably practicable to operate under the operating agreement. Corporate shareholders have their own dissolution route, and the court can appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing.
• Complex Contract Litigation: Purchase agreements, operating agreements, shareholder agreements, commercial leases, loan documents, and construction contracts. These cases often turn on the exact wording of the document and the history of how the parties dealt with each other.
• Missing Funds and Accounting Claims: Unpaid distributions, diverted company money, disputed capital contributions, and commingled accounts. Remedies include an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty claims, and recovery of funds, often paired with emergency relief to stop assets from being moved.
• Family Business Disputes: Siblings who inherited a company, parents and children with different visions, and spouses or in-laws sharing ownership. These disputes call for discretion because the family relationship is at stake alongside the money.
• Partition and Quiet Title Actions: Co-owners of real estate who cannot agree can ask the court to divide the property or order its sale. Title disputes and quiet title actions clear competing ownership claims and remove clouds on title.
• Injunctions and Emergency Relief: Temporary and permanent injunctions protect company assets, business interests, and real property while a case is pending.
• Outside General Counsel: Ongoing contract, compliance, and operational advice, with the firm serving as the company’s registered agent through our general counsel program.

What to Do When a Business Partner or Contract Dispute Surfaces

Start by gathering paper before anyone knows you are worried. Pull the operating agreement or shareholder agreement, any amendments, the articles of organization or incorporation, bank and merchant statements, tax returns, loan documents, and the emails and texts that show what each side promised. Owners usually have a right to inspect company records, and requesting them in writing early often reveals whether a problem is a misunderstanding or something worse. Do not delete anything and do not move money out of company accounts on your own, because both moves can be used against you later.

Next, check the deadline that applies to your claim. A claim founded on a written contract generally must be filed within five years, while an oral or implied contract claim has four. Fraud claims run four years from discovery, subject to an outer limit of 12 years. A suit to rescind a contract has four years. Professional malpractice, including a claim against an accountant or lawyer, carries two years from when the problem was or should have been discovered. Specific performance of a contract is the unusual one: the period is only one year, so owners who want a court to force a closing cannot sit on their hands. Which period applies depends on how the claim is pleaded, so have the documents reviewed before you assume you have time.

Read the dispute provisions in your agreements before filing anything. Many operating agreements require mediation or arbitration, set a venue, or include a deadlock sale mechanism. In an LLC, a deadlock sale provision that one owner starts before the court finds deadlock grounds can displace a judicial dissolution, so timing and sequencing matter. If funds are at risk, the right move may be a motion for emergency injunctive relief rather than a slow-moving complaint.

On the courts: Palm Beach County cases are heard by the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, and the Palm Beach County Clerk operates the North County Courthouse in Palm Beach Gardens along with the main courthouse in West Palm Beach. County court handles claims up to a statutory ceiling that is adjusted periodically, and circuit court handles larger ones, with small claims reserved for the smallest disputes. Where a dispute involves property or parties in Broward County, the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit has a complex business division that handles matters such as the dissolution of certain business entities and large business and construction cases. Federal court in West Palm Beach or Fort Lauderdale comes into play when federal jurisdiction exists. We handle appearances in all of these, so clients who live out of state do not have to travel for every hearing.

The most common mistakes are waiting until a limitations period is nearly gone, signing a buyout or settlement without a valuation, confronting a partner in writing in ways that hand the other side a narrative, and treating commingled accounts as someone else’s problem. A short consultation before you act usually costs far less than undoing a misstep.

How Florida Handles LLC and Corporate Breakups

When owners cannot continue together, Florida gives courts several tools. In an LLC dissolution case, a judge may appoint a receiver or custodian after notice to the parties and a hearing, or may order that the petitioning member’s interest be purchased rather than dissolving the company. For corporations, a shareholder who petitions for dissolution on certain grounds can find the case redirected into a buyout: the corporation, or other shareholders, may elect to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value. If the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days after the first election is filed, the court enters an order on those terms, and an election to purchase is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to set it aside. The corporation must also notify the other shareholders, within 30 days after the petition is filed, of their right to avoid dissolution by buying out the petitioner.

During the case, courts can issue injunctions, appoint a receiver or custodian, and take other steps to preserve corporate assets. For a minority owner locked out of information or a majority owner watching the company drain, those interim orders are often the real battleground.

Partition, Quiet Title, and Property Disputes Between Co-Owners

Real estate trouble often follows business trouble. In a partition case, all partition actions are heard in chancery, and the complaint must describe the land, name the owners and where they live, and state each owner’s share. After a judgment of partition the court appoints three commissioners, chosen by the court unless the parties agree. If the commissioners report that the property cannot be divided without prejudice to the owners, the court may order a public sale 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 gets special treatment. Florida’s Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act applies to partition cases filed on or after July 1, 2020 where cotenants hold as tenants in common, at least one acquired title from a relative, and a further condition is met, such as relatives holding twenty percent or more of the interests. For heirs property, a partition in kind is not ordered unless commissioners have weighed the statutory factors and found that dividing the land would prejudice the cotenants as a group.

Quiet title actions under Chapter 65 are for owners who need competing claims or clouds on title cleared away. A plaintiff generally must trace title back at least seven years unless the court orders otherwise, and the case may be filed in any county where part of the land lies. Related rules on adverse possession require seven years of continuous possession, and a claim based on color of title requires recording the instrument. A related rule bars suits to recover real property unless the plaintiff or a predecessor was in possession within seven years before filing.

Palm Beach Gardens Business Attorney FAQs

What does a business attorney do for a company in Palm Beach Gardens?

The work splits into two kinds. On the transactional and advisory side, a business attorney reviews and drafts contracts, advises on compliance, and can serve as outside general counsel. On the litigation side, the attorney handles disputes between owners, breaches of contract, missing funds, and real estate conflicts. Our firm does both, and having a litigator involved before a dispute starts often keeps a disagreement from becoming a lawsuit.

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 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 in cases of serious misconduct or when the company can no longer function. Review of the agreement is the first step.

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. In urgent cases a court can order injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved or spent while the dispute is pending. Misappropriation or waste of assets that causes injury is also one of the recognized grounds for judicial dissolution of an LLC.

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

Five years for a claim founded on a written contract, and four years for an oral or implied one. Fraud is four years from discovery, with a 12-year outer limit. Specific performance has a one-year period. Because the label on the claim controls the clock, get the facts reviewed promptly.

Does every business dispute end up in court?

No. Many are resolved through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and some agreements require those steps before a lawsuit. Our attorneys are experienced in alternative dispute resolution and pursue whichever route is most likely to reach your goals efficiently.

Which court would hear my case if the dispute is in Palm Beach Gardens?

Claims above the county court ceiling are filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Palm Beach County. County court hears smaller claims, and small claims court handles the lowest-value disputes. Cases with federal jurisdiction can proceed in the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in West Palm Beach.

What happens if my partner and I are deadlocked and the operating agreement is silent?

If the owners are deadlocked, cannot break it, and irreparable injury to the company is threatened or occurring, a member or manager can petition a circuit court for dissolution. The court may appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing or order a buyout of the petitioner’s interest. If the agreement has a deadlock sale provision that gets started before the court makes its finding, that provision can take the place of a judicial dissolution order.

I live in New York or New Jersey but own a business or property here. Can you handle it?

Yes. We regularly represent clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut whose partners or co-owners are in South Florida. We handle the local court appearances and keep you informed at every stage so you do not have to travel for each hearing.

Can I get a court to force a seller to close on a commercial property?

Specific performance is the remedy that asks a court to compel performance of a contract, and it is time sensitive because the limitations period is one year. Whether it is available turns on the contract terms and your own readiness to perform. Our firm obtained a final judgment awarding specific performance of a commercial real estate contract after a bench trial in Broward County.

Will a co-owner of property be forced to sell if I file for partition?

Not necessarily. A court first considers whether the land can be divided fairly. If commissioners find division would prejudice the owners, the court can order a public sale and split the proceeds by ownership share. Inherited property is subject to additional protections under Florida’s heirs property statute.

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

Often yes, if only for an early assessment. A review of the contract and the limitations period can tell you whether the claim is worth pursuing, whether mediation makes sense, and whether cost-effective alternatives exist. We aim for solutions that make financial sense rather than legal fees that outweigh the dispute.

Serving Business Owners Across Palm Beach Gardens and South Florida

We represent business owners and investors from Palm Beach Gardens and neighboring Juno Beach, Jupiter, North Palm Beach, Lake Park, Riviera Beach, and Palm Beach Shores, and through the center of Palm Beach County in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, and Lake Worth Beach. Further south in the county, we serve Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Highland Beach, and Boca Raton, along with communities such as Greenacres and Lantana.

Our reach continues into Broward County, including Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, and the surrounding area. We also serve clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or real estate interests in South Florida, and attorneys who refer clients with Florida disputes.

Palm Beach Gardens Business Litigation Attorney: Call the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team

If a partner, a contract, or a piece of property is putting your company or investment at risk, a conversation with a Palm Beach Gardens business litigation attorney early in the dispute can change what options remain open. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team has handled business and real estate disputes throughout South Florida, and we answer our calls and return them within 24 hours. Call us to discuss your situation and learn which path fits your goals and budget.