Parkland Contract Litigation Attorney

Most contract disputes end the same way for the person who brings them: either the other side performs, pays what it owes, or the court orders it to. Getting there means knowing which claim fits the facts, which deadline controls, and which court will hear the case. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate litigation for owners, investors, and families, and works as a Parkland contract litigation attorney for clients whose agreements have been broken, disputed, or read very differently by the people who signed them.

Parkland sits in Broward County, so contract cases arising from deals made here are generally heard in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, with federal court in Fort Lauderdale available when the facts support it. The firm represents clients in Parkland and throughout Broward County and Palm Beach County, including partners and co-owners whose agreements have failed, sellers and buyers whose closings collapsed, and lenders and borrowers who disagree about what a loan document requires. These cases often turn on the exact words of the agreement and the history of how the parties actually dealt with each other, so that is where the work begins.

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

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in some of South Florida’s most difficult business and real estate disputes, serving clients in Parkland, Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and throughout Broward and Palm Beach Counties. 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 at Emory University in 1986 and his law degree at the University of Miami in 1989. Contract enforcement and interpretation have been at the center of his practice for his entire career.

He 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 pairing matters in contract work, where a case can start in a Broward circuit courtroom and end up in federal court depending on the parties and the claims. The firm practices as a true legal team, meaning everyone working on your matter knows the file, and a strict 24 hour return call policy applies when a lawyer is in court and cannot pick up right away.

The firm’s results include a recent commercial real estate matter in Broward County. After a 5-day bench trial, the Broward County Circuit Court issued a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. Specific performance, where a court orders a party to actually carry out a contract rather than pay damages, is an unusual remedy that demands a well-prepared record, and a judgment of that length reflects how closely the court examined the agreement and the parties’ conduct. The attorneys are also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and they look for the resolution that serves the client’s goals and budget rather than stretching a case out for its own sake.

Types of Contract Disputes Our Firm Handles

• Purchase and Sale Agreements: Failed closings, deposit disputes, and sellers who walk away after signing are common in residential and commercial transactions across Broward County, and some call for a court order compelling the sale to go forward.
• Operating and Shareholder Agreements: Disputes over buyout formulas, voting rights, distributions, and transfer restrictions often decide who controls a company when co-owners stop agreeing.
• Commercial Leases: Landlord and tenant conflicts over rent, build-out obligations, personal guaranties, defaults, and early termination can involve significant money and the continued operation of a business.
• Loan Documents and Guaranties: Disagreements over default, acceleration, payoff amounts, and the reach of a personal guaranty turn on the precise language of the note and loan agreement.
• Construction Contracts: Delay, defective work, change orders, and nonpayment between owners, developers, and contractors frequently produce layered claims under one agreement.
• Unpaid Distributions and Missing Funds: When a partner or manager cannot account for company money, claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, and recovery of the funds can accompany the contract claim.
• Fraud and Rescission Claims: A contract signed on false statements may support a claim to undo the deal or recover losses, and these claims run on their own deadlines.
• Family and Close-Held Business Agreements: Siblings, spouses, and friends who started a company together often have thin paperwork, and the dispute becomes a fight over what was actually agreed.

What to Do When a Contract Has Been Broken

The first decision is whether to keep performing while the disagreement plays out. Walking away from your own obligations because the other side defaulted can hand them a defense, so read the agreement for notice requirements, cure periods, and termination clauses before you stop paying, stop delivering, or send a letter declaring the deal over. If the contract requires written notice of default, how and when you send it can matter as much as what it says. Gather the signed agreement, every amendment, the emails and texts that show how the parties dealt with each other, invoices, payment records, and anything showing what each side did or failed to do. Contract cases are won on documents, and informal communications often shape how a court reads an ambiguous term.

The second decision is how fast to move, because Florida sets firm deadlines. A claim founded on a written contract generally must be filed within five years, while a claim on an oral or implied contract gets four. An action to rescind a contract has four years, and a fraud claim runs four years from discovery with an outer limit of twelve. If you want a court to order a party to perform, the specific performance deadline is only one year, which is far shorter than most people expect and the one most likely to be lost by waiting. These periods are not interchangeable, and the same dispute can involve several of them at once, so the claim you can still bring may depend on which deadline you are closest to missing.

The third decision is where to file. In Florida, claims between roughly eight thousand dollars and fifty thousand dollars go to county court, and larger disputes belong in circuit court. For a Parkland dispute, that means the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, sitting in and for Broward County, with its main civil division at the Central Judicial Complex in Fort Lauderdale and regional courthouses in Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, and Plantation. Broward also has complex business and tort divisions that handle large business and construction litigation, reached through a specific filing process, and a case with parties from different states or federal questions may belong in the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. Where a counterparty or property is in Palm Beach County, the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit may be the right forum instead. Picking the right court and the right claim early avoids motions to dismiss or transfer that cost time and money.

Finally, decide what you want the outcome to be. Money damages, an order forcing performance, a declaration of what the contract means, and emergency relief to freeze assets or stop a transfer are different remedies with different proof. Where a counterparty is moving money or property while the case is pending, the firm can seek temporary or permanent injunctive relief on an emergency basis. Many disputes also settle through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and the contract itself may require arbitration or mediation before you can sue, so check for that clause before you file anything.

How Courts Read and Enforce Contract Terms

A contract dispute is usually decided by the words on the page, so the firm starts with what the agreement actually says and how the parties behaved under it. Courts look first at the plain language. If the language is clear, it generally controls, and the case may be decided without much attention to what either side now says it intended. If a term is ambiguous, the way the parties performed over time, earlier drafts, and the course of dealing between them can come into play. That is why a clean, organized record of correspondence and payments can change the strength of a claim.

Written agreements frequently contain provisions that decide the case before the facts are argued: limits on damages, notice and cure requirements, venue and governing-law clauses, arbitration and mediation requirements, and provisions on attorney’s fees. A fee-shifting clause can make a modest dispute worth pursuing or make a weak one expensive to lose, so it deserves attention before you commit to litigation. The same is true of buyout and deadlock provisions in operating and shareholder agreements. Under Florida’s LLC and corporation statutes, a deadlock sale provision that has been started can take the place of a court-ordered dissolution, and a corporation or other shareholders may elect to buy out a petitioning shareholder at fair value. Whether those tools are available, and on what terms, comes straight from the agreement and the facts.

When the other side is disputing the facts rather than the language, the case turns on proof of breach, causation, and damages. A party seeking damages generally has to show what the contract required, what the other side failed to do, and what that failure cost. In cases involving money that has gone missing, an accounting can be the way to find out where it went. Our attorneys prepare these cases with that level of detail from the first day, whether the matter heads for trial, mediation, or arbitration.

Parkland Contract Litigation Questions Answered

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

A legal or equitable action on a written contract must generally be brought within five years. That period was not changed by the 2023 amendments that shortened the negligence deadline to two years. Some related claims, such as those based on an oral agreement or rescission, have four years.

What if the contract was oral or only partly written?

A claim on a contract that is not founded on a written instrument carries a four-year period. Oral and implied agreements can still be enforced, but proof is harder, and emails, texts, payment records, and the parties’ conduct take the place of a signed document.

Can a court force the other party to carry out the contract instead of paying damages?

Yes, through specific performance, and it is most often sought where the subject matter is unique, such as real estate. The deadline for a specific performance action is just one year, so waiting to see whether the other side comes around can forfeit the remedy.

Which court will hear my case if I live in Parkland?

It depends on the amount and the parties. Smaller claims go to county court, while larger ones belong in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit for Broward County. A case may also belong in federal court in the Southern District of Florida if the parties and claims support it.

Does my contract require arbitration or mediation first?

Many commercial agreements do. Read the dispute resolution clause before you file, because suing in the wrong forum can lead to a delay or dismissal, and the clause may also set rules on fees and location.

What happens if the other side is moving money or assets while we dispute the contract?

You may be able to ask the court for emergency injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved or spent while the case is pending. These requests are fact-intensive and time-sensitive, so waiting can weaken your position.

Can I recover my attorney’s fees in a contract case?

Only if the contract or a statute provides for it. Many commercial agreements contain a fee clause, and it can cut either way, so it is worth reading before you decide whether to sue or settle.

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

Often yes, particularly where the contract has a fee-shifting clause, a short deadline, or an arbitration requirement that could undercut your claim. A lawyer can tell you early whether the amount at stake justifies litigation or a negotiated resolution instead.

I own a Parkland business but my partner lives out of state. Can you still help?

Yes. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with business or real estate interests in South Florida, and it handles the local court appearances so you do not have to travel for every hearing.

What if my business partner and I are family?

Family and close-friend businesses often have limited documentation and high emotion. The firm handles these cases with discretion while still protecting your financial interests, and many are resolved through a negotiated buyout or structured separation rather than a trial.

Can fraud in how a contract was formed change the deadline?

Yes. A fraud claim has four years from discovery, capped at twelve years overall, which differs from the five-year period on a written contract. A dispute with fraud allegations can involve several overlapping deadlines.

Serving Contract Litigation Clients Across Parkland and Broward County

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents clients in Parkland and in neighboring Broward County communities including Coral Springs, Margate, Coconut Creek, Tamarac, Sunrise, Plantation, Weston, Davie, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, and Pembroke Pines. The firm also serves clients across Palm Beach County, including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Wellington, Palm Beach Gardens, and West Palm Beach, where agreements made by Parkland business owners often reach. Clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who have business or real estate interests in South Florida are represented as well, with the firm handling local court proceedings on their behalf.

Speak With a Parkland Contract Litigation Attorney

If an agreement has been breached, a partner will not honor a buyout, or a deal you counted on has fallen apart, the deadlines in Florida law are already running. A Parkland contract litigation attorney at the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your agreement, tell you which claims and deadlines apply, and lay out realistic options from negotiation through trial. Call the firm to discuss your case and decide on a path that fits your goals and your budget.