Plantation General Counsel for Businesses and Business Owners

A company in Plantation usually reaches the point of needing a lawyer on retainer long before it has a lawsuit: a lease is up for renewal, a co-owner wants out, a vendor is disputing an invoice, or nobody can say who the registered agent is. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate litigation and transactions for owners, investors, and families in Broward County, Palm Beach County, and across South Florida, and its outside Plantation general counsel program is built to give those companies a litigator’s judgment before a problem hardens into a case.

Outside general counsel is not a smaller version of litigation work. It is the discipline of reading the contract before it is signed, setting up the ownership documents so they actually resolve a deadlock, and keeping records that will hold up if a dispute ever reaches a Broward County courtroom. A Florida contract claim founded on a written instrument carries a five-year limitations period, while an oral or implied agreement carries four years, and that difference alone is a reason to put important terms in writing. A lawyer who has tried these disputes knows which clauses get fought over and which ones quietly decide the outcome.

What an Outside General Counsel Relationship Covers for Plantation Companies

Many businesses need regular access to legal advice without the cost of a full-time in-house attorney. Through the firm’s general counsel program, the company can have the firm serve as its registered agent and bring contract, compliance, and operational questions to a lawyer who already knows the file. That continuity matters. The attorney reviewing your vendor agreement today is the same one who will recognize the history if the vendor relationship sours two years from now.

The practical value is preventive. Disagreements among owners, tenants, lenders, and counterparties are far cheaper to resolve when someone with litigation experience has already shaped the paper trail. Contract disputes often turn on the exact wording of the agreement and on the history of how the parties actually dealt with one another, so careful drafting and consistent business conduct are the best protection a company can buy.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team as Your Plantation General Counsel

The Andrew M. Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989, earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989, and has spent 37 years in litigation. His career is built around complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders. He is joined by Sundeep Nath, Senior Counsel, a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in state and federal courts.

That litigation depth is what separates a general counsel who drafts from one who has seen drafts fail. The firm’s recent record includes a five-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court that ended in a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. Clients get a team in the true sense: everyone working on a matter knows the file, calls are answered, and a strict 24 hour return call policy applies when an attorney is in court. The firm is also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and it looks for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget rather than prolonging a case for its own sake.

Situations Where Plantation Businesses Rely on Outside Counsel

• Operating and Shareholder Agreements: The documents that govern ownership decide what happens when owners disagree. A well-built agreement can include a deadlock sale provision, and under Florida’s LLC and corporation statutes a properly initiated deadlock sale provision can take the place of a court-ordered dissolution.
• Commercial Lease Review: Leases for office, retail, and warehouse space in the Plantation area carry personal guarantees, renewal mechanics, and default clauses that are far easier to negotiate before signing than to litigate afterward.
• Purchase and Sale Agreements: Whether buying a business or commercial property, the contract’s closing conditions and remedies determine your position if the other side walks away. Specific performance claims in Florida must be brought within one year, so timing matters.
• Vendor, Customer, and Construction Contracts: Payment terms, scope changes, and termination rights generate many of the disputes the firm sees. Written terms support a five-year limitations window rather than four.
• Registered Agent and Compliance Support: A missed service of process can lead to a default. Having the firm act as registered agent keeps legal papers in the hands of lawyers from day one.
• Partner and Member Conflict Early Warning: Questions about distributions, capital contributions, or who is signing checks are easier to settle through counsel early than through a claim for an accounting later.
• Family-Owned Business Governance: Siblings, parents and children, and in-laws sharing ownership face questions of control and compensation that benefit from clear written rules and a neutral lawyer who can handle them with discretion.

What to Do When a Business Problem Is Already Developing

If a dispute has already begun, gather the documents before anything else: the operating or shareholder agreement, the lease or purchase contract, financial statements, bank records, and the emails and messages that show how the parties actually behaved. Do not move company money, change access to accounts, or lock a partner out without advice. Those moves can be characterized as the very misconduct you are worried about, and a court asked to dissolve an LLC or appoint a custodian will look closely at who acted improperly.

Deadlines drive strategy. A written-contract claim has five years, an oral or implied one four, rescission four, fraud four years from discovery subject to a twelve-year outer limit, and specific performance only one year. A negligence claim is now two years for causes of action that arose after the March 2023 amendments. A professional malpractice claim also runs two years from when it was or should have been discovered. If a lawsuit becomes unavoidable, Broward County disputes above the county court ceiling are filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County, and Palm Beach County matters go to the Fifteenth. Plantation itself hosts the West Regional Courthouse, which hears county-level civil matters, and larger business cases may qualify for the Seventeenth Circuit’s complex business division, which handles matters such as certain entity dissolutions and large business and construction litigation. Federal claims in this region go to the Southern District of Florida, which sits in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

The most common mistake is waiting. Owners hope a disagreement will cool, then discover that the evidence has gone stale, funds have moved, or a limitations period is closing. A first call to the firm, even before you decide to sue, lets a litigator tell you which deadlines apply and whether emergency relief such as a temporary injunction is realistic.

Where General Counsel Work Prevents Partnership and Ownership Fights

Florida’s statutes show what courts look at when owners fall out. An LLC member or manager can seek judicial dissolution when the company cannot reasonably carry on under its operating agreement, when controlling members are acting illegally or fraudulently, when assets are being misappropriated or wasted, or when owners are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened. Before appointing a receiver or custodian, the court must hold a hearing after notice to the parties. For corporations, a shareholder petition for dissolution can prompt the company or the other shareholders to elect to buy the petitioner out at fair value; if the sides agree on value and terms within 60 days of the first election, the court enters an order on those terms, and the election is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to set it aside.

Each of those mechanisms is easier to manage if the governing documents anticipated them. A general counsel relationship lets the company adopt buyout formulas, valuation methods, and deadlock procedures while everyone is still on good terms. When a dispute can no longer be avoided, the same lawyers who know the documents can move quickly, including to seek injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved while the case proceeds.

Plantation General Counsel FAQ

What does an outside general counsel actually do for a small or mid-sized company?

The attorney acts as the company’s legal advisor on contracts, compliance, ownership documents, and day-to-day operational questions, without the cost of an in-house employee. The firm can also serve as the company’s registered agent through its general counsel program.

Is outside general counsel the same as hiring a lawyer for a lawsuit?

No. General counsel work is mostly preventive: reviewing agreements, advising before decisions are made, and keeping records in order. Litigation is the response when that approach fails, and having the same firm on both sides means the lawyer already understands your business.

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

For a contract founded on a written instrument, five years. For an oral or implied contract, four years. A suit for specific performance has a one-year period, which is much shorter, so a deal that falls through needs prompt attention.

Did the 2023 changes to Florida’s limitations law affect contract claims?

The negligence period was reduced from four years to two for causes of action accruing after the March 2023 amendments. The five-year written-contract period and the four-year intentional-tort period were not changed.

Can general counsel help prevent a business divorce?

Often, yes. A well-drafted operating or shareholder agreement with clear buyout, valuation, and deadlock provisions gives owners a route to separate without court. Florida law gives effect to a properly initiated deadlock sale provision in place of judicial dissolution.

What happens if my co-owner and I deadlock and the operating agreement says nothing?

An LLC member can petition a circuit court for dissolution when managers or members are deadlocked, cannot break the deadlock, and irreparable injury to the company is threatened or occurring. The court may also appoint a receiver or custodian or order a buyout of the petitioner’s interest, after a hearing on notice to the parties.

Which court handles a business dispute in Plantation?

Plantation is in Broward County, so circuit-level disputes go to the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, and smaller claims go to county court. Broward’s West Regional Courthouse sits in Plantation. Complex business matters can be directed to the circuit’s complex business division, and federal claims go to the Southern District of Florida.

Where is the line between county court and circuit court for a commercial claim?

County court hears civil claims up to a set ceiling above the small claims limit, and circuit court hears claims above that ceiling. The ceiling is adjusted on a schedule set by statute, so the amount in controversy should be checked at the time of filing.

If my business partner is taking money, can I act before the case ends?

You may have claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, conversion, and recovery of funds. In urgent situations a court can issue temporary injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved or spent while the case is pending, and in dissolution proceedings it may appoint a custodian or receiver.

I live in New York or New Jersey but own a business in Broward. Can you represent me?

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

Will you work with my current attorney?

The firm accepts referrals from other lawyers, including out-of-state attorneys whose clients have Florida disputes, and communicates with referring counsel throughout the matter while respecting their relationship with the client.

Serving Plantation and the Surrounding South Florida Business Community

The firm’s general counsel and litigation work starts with Plantation and Broward County and extends outward. From Plantation we serve businesses in neighboring Sunrise, Davie, Lauderhill, Tamarac, and Fort Lauderdale, and through Coral Springs, Margate, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, and Weston. Further north we represent owners and investors in Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, and elsewhere in Palm Beach County. Companies with real estate, partners, or tenants spread across Broward and Palm Beach Counties often need one legal team that can appear in both the Seventeenth and Fifteenth Judicial Circuits, and that is the structure the firm is built around.

Speak With a Plantation General Counsel Attorney Today

If your company needs a lawyer who understands how business disputes are actually decided, the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can serve as your Plantation general counsel attorney before a problem arises and as your litigators if one does. Call to discuss your company’s contracts, ownership structure, or an issue that is already developing, and a member of the team will tell you what options and deadlines apply.