Riviera Beach Breach of Fiduciary Duty Attorney

A partner who stops answering questions about the books, a manager who moves company money into an account you cannot see, a co-owner who quietly steers customers to a competing venture: when someone you trusted with your investment starts acting for himself, the clock starts running on decisions you cannot afford to put off. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles business and real estate litigation for owners, investors, and families in Palm Beach County and Broward County, and our work for Riviera Beach clients includes claims against partners, LLC managers, corporate officers, and others who owed a duty of loyalty and care and broke it.

If you are looking for a Riviera Beach breach of fiduciary duty attorney, the first thing to know is that these cases are rarely about one dramatic act. They usually surface as a pattern: distributions that stop, financial statements that are late or incomplete, expenses that do not make sense, or decisions made without the vote the operating agreement requires. Riviera Beach has a working waterfront, marine and industrial businesses, commercial properties near the port, and a steady base of family-owned companies, and disputes in those settings often involve co-owners who share both a business and a long personal history.

A fiduciary relationship exists when one person is entrusted with authority over another’s interests, such as a managing member over the other members, a general partner over limited partners, or officers and directors over shareholders. When that person self-deals, diverts funds, hides information, or competes with the company, the law gives the injured owner tools to respond, and the earlier you use them, the more of the company’s value you are likely to protect.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Fiduciary Duty Claims

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm serving Riviera Beach, the rest of Palm Beach County, Broward County, and South Florida, along with clients in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or property interests here. Firm founder Andrew M. Schwartz has spent 37 years in litigation and has been practicing in Florida since being admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989. His career has been built around contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders, which is the territory where fiduciary duty claims live. He earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989.

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 here because a fiduciary duty dispute can start in a Palm Beach County circuit court and end up with a federal dimension, depending on the parties and claims involved.

The firm works as a true legal team, so everyone handling your matter knows the file, and we keep a strict 24 hour return call policy when we are in court or otherwise unavailable. Many of our clients are not in Florida full time, and we handle local court appearances so they are not traveling for every hearing. We also take referrals from other attorneys, including out of state lawyers whose clients have a Florida problem. 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.

As proof that we try cases to a result, a recent matter ended with a Broward County Circuit Court final judgment, after a 5-day bench trial, awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. The 32-page judgment reflects the kind of detailed preparation we bring to disputes that turn on the exact wording of an agreement and the history between the parties.

Situations That Typically Support a Fiduciary Duty Claim

• Diverted or Misused Company Funds: A manager or partner pays personal expenses from company accounts, moves money to an affiliated entity, or cannot explain where distributions went. These cases often include claims for an accounting and recovery of the money.
• Self-Dealing Transactions: A controlling member sells company property or services to himself, a relative, or another company he owns at a price that favors him. Operating agreements often set approval requirements for these deals, and skipping them is powerful evidence.
• Usurped Business Opportunities: A partner takes a contract, lease, or deal that belonged to the company and runs it through a separate entity. This comes up in marine, commercial real estate, and service businesses where relationships drive revenue.
• Freezing Out a Minority Owner: The majority cuts off distributions, removes a member from management, withholds financial records, or changes compensation to squeeze out a smaller owner.
• Competing With the Company: A partner or officer starts a rival business while still holding a fiduciary role, using the company’s customers, employees, or information.
• Commingled Accounts: Business and personal money mixed together make it impossible to trace what belongs to whom, and they frequently signal a deeper accountability problem.
• Waste and Mismanagement: Assets are being wasted or misappropriated in a way that injures the company, which Florida’s LLC statute recognizes as a ground for judicial dissolution.
• Family Business Betrayals: A sibling, parent, or in-law who runs the company treats it as a personal account. These cases require discretion alongside firm protection of the financial interest.

What to Do and Where to Go When You Suspect a Partner Has Breached Their Duty

Start by collecting what you already have a right to see, and do it quietly and quickly. Pull your operating agreement, shareholder agreement, or partnership agreement, the company’s tax returns, bank statements, loan documents, and any financial reports you have received. Save emails and texts that discuss money, distributions, or major decisions. Do not take documents you are not entitled to or log into accounts you have been locked out of; a clean paper trail built from legitimate access is far more useful than a shortcut that gives the other side something to attack.

Next, read your agreement for the mechanisms it already contains: buyout provisions, deadlock procedures, notice requirements, dispute resolution clauses, and any requirement to mediate or arbitrate before suing. If the agreement calls for arbitration, that changes where the case is heard. If it does not, a fiduciary duty suit over a Riviera Beach business is filed in the circuit court for Palm Beach County, the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in West Palm Beach. The right forum depends on where the company operates, where the defendants live, and what the contract says.

Timing is the decision people most often get wrong. Florida applies different limitations periods depending on how a claim is framed. A claim founded on a written instrument, such as an operating agreement, carries five years. A claim on an oral or implied agreement carries four years, and fraud carries four years from discovery, subject to an outer limit of 12 years. Negligence-based claims are now two years for causes of action that accrued after March 24, 2023, and professional malpractice claims also run two years from when they were or should have been discovered. Because a single set of facts can support several theories with different deadlines, waiting to see whether things improve can quietly cost you a claim.

If money is actively leaving the company, the question is not only whether you can sue but whether you can stop the bleeding now. Courts can issue temporary and emergency injunctions to freeze the movement of assets while the case is pending, and in a dissolution proceeding the court can appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing with notice to the parties. Those tools work best when requested early and supported by documents, which is why the evidence gathering described above comes first. Avoid confronting the partner in writing with accusations before you have spoken with counsel; it can prompt the very transfers and deletions you are worried about.

How Fiduciary Duty Claims Connect to Dissolution, Buyouts, and Court-Ordered Remedies

A fiduciary duty claim is often one piece of a larger exit strategy. For an LLC, Florida’s statute allows a manager or member to ask a circuit court to dissolve the company on several grounds, including that controlling members have acted or are acting illegally or fraudulently, that assets are being misappropriated or wasted to the company’s injury, or that the owners are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened. In that proceeding the court may appoint a receiver or custodian, or order the purchase of the petitioning member’s interest, which gives a wronged owner a path to a fair exit without burning the company down.

Corporations have a parallel framework. A shareholder can seek judicial dissolution on statutory grounds, and the corporation or other shareholders can respond by electing 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 directing the purchase on those terms, and the election is irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to modify it. During the case, the court can issue injunctions and take steps to preserve assets. Some operating and shareholder agreements also contain deadlock sale provisions that take priority if they are initiated in time, so reading your agreement before filing matters.

The practical result is that the claim you bring and the remedy you want should be chosen together. If you want to stay and run the business without the wrongdoer, you need different relief than if you want to be bought out at a fair number. An accounting may be the first step, since it forces the other side to document where money went and often reshapes settlement talks.

Questions Riviera Beach Owners Ask About Fiduciary Duty Disputes

What is breach of fiduciary duty in a business context?

It is a violation of the duty of loyalty or care owed by someone entrusted with control over a company or an owner’s interests. Typical examples include self-dealing, diverting funds, concealing information, and competing with the business while serving as its manager or partner.

Who owes fiduciary duties in a company?

Partners owe duties to one another and to the partnership, managers and controlling members of an LLC owe duties to the company and its members, and corporate officers and directors owe duties to the corporation and its shareholders. The exact scope depends on the entity type and what the governing agreement says.

What remedies are available if my partner took company money?

Remedies can include an accounting, recovery of the diverted funds, damages, and in urgent situations an injunction stopping assets from being moved or spent while the case is pending. In some cases the court can also order a buyout or dissolution.

How long do I have to file?

It depends on how the claim is framed. A claim founded on a written agreement runs five years, an oral or implied contract claim runs four, fraud runs four years from discovery with a 12 year cap, and negligence-based claims arising after March 24, 2023 run two. Because several theories may apply to the same facts, have the dates reviewed promptly.

Can I sue if I am only a minority owner?

Yes. Minority owners are often the ones most exposed to self-dealing and freeze-outs, and Florida law provides remedies for them, including dissolution grounds and buyout mechanisms. Your operating or shareholder agreement may add further protections or procedures.

Do I have to go to court, or can this be resolved another way?

Many disputes settle through negotiation or mediation, and some agreements require arbitration. We pursue the route most likely to reach your goal efficiently, but we prepare the case as if it could be tried, because that preparation is what makes settlement credible.

What if my agreement says nothing about fiduciary duties?

Silence in the agreement does not erase the duties the law imposes. The agreement may modify some of them, but a manager or controlling owner generally cannot ignore loyalty and good faith simply because the document is short or poorly drafted.

Can I get the books and records if my partner is stonewalling me?

Owners generally have rights to company information under Florida law and under their agreements, and a refusal to produce records is often itself part of the story. We can demand the records, and if they are withheld, pursue them through court proceedings.

Which court would hear a fiduciary duty case involving a Riviera Beach business?

Most are filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit for Palm Beach County, or in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit if the dispute centers on Broward County. Claims above the county court limit go to circuit court, and federal court in West Palm Beach or Fort Lauderdale may be available if the parties and claims support federal jurisdiction.

I live in New York or New Jersey. Can you handle this without me traveling constantly?

Yes. We regularly represent clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own a share of a South Florida business or property. We handle the local court appearances and keep you informed at each stage, with conference calls scheduled at times that work for you.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer if the amount missing is modest?

It can be, especially if the conduct is ongoing or points to larger problems. A consultation can tell you whether the amount, the evidence, and the likely costs justify a claim, and we aim for cost-effective solutions rather than legal fees that outweigh common sense.

Can a fiduciary duty dispute also involve real estate?

Often, yes. When a company holds property, a partner may sell it, encumber it, or move title in a way that harms the others. We handle partition actions and title disputes alongside fiduciary claims, and we can seek emergency relief to protect property while the case proceeds.

Serving Riviera Beach Fiduciary Duty Clients Across Palm Beach and Broward Counties

We represent business owners and investors in Riviera Beach and the neighboring communities of West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Shores, Lake Park, North Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Juno Beach, Jupiter, and Singer Island. Across Palm Beach County, our work also reaches Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth Beach, Lantana, Greenacres, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, and Belle Glade, with court appearances at the courthouses that serve each part of the county.

In Broward County, we serve clients in Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, Deerfield Beach, Coral Springs, Parkland, Plantation, Sunrise, Hollywood, and the surrounding communities. We also work with clients throughout South Florida and with owners in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut whose partners, companies, or real estate are here, and with referring attorneys who need local counsel for a Florida dispute.

Talk With a Riviera Beach Breach of Fiduciary Duty Lawyer Before Assets Disappear

If a partner, manager, or co-owner has been working against the company or against you, the best moment to get advice is before the evidence changes and before a deadline passes. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your agreements, assess the claims and remedies available, and explain what a realistic path looks like, whether that is a negotiated buyout, mediation, or a court case. Call our Riviera Beach fiduciary duty attorneys to discuss your situation and learn what can be done to protect your interest in the business.