Riviera Beach Business Litigation Attorney

Most business disputes in Riviera Beach do not start with a lawsuit. They start with a partner who stops returning calls, a distribution that never arrives, or a co-owner who locks the other side out of the books. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm that represents business owners, investors, and families in Palm Beach County, including Riviera Beach, and throughout Broward County and South Florida. If you are searching for a Riviera Beach business litigation attorney, the question is usually not whether you have a grievance but what a court can actually do about it, and how fast.

Riviera Beach is a working business town: marine and port-related trades, warehousing and light industrial space, commercial corridors along U.S. 1 and Broadway, waterfront and residential property, and many closely held companies run by two or three owners. That mix produces a particular set of disputes: co-owners who cannot agree on a sale, LLC members who suspect money is missing, lease and purchase contracts that fell apart, and inherited property that several relatives now own in shares. Cases filed here are heard in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Palm Beach County, with federal claims going to the Southern District of Florida when jurisdiction requires it.

Why Riviera Beach Owners Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Business Disputes

The Andrew M. Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, has spent 37 years in litigation and has practiced in Florida courts since his admission to The Florida Bar in 1989. He earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University in 1986 and his law degree from the University of Miami in 1989. His practice has been built around complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among partners, LLC members, and shareholders.

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. The firm works as a true team: everyone handling a matter knows the file, so a client who calls is not starting over with a stranger. Calls are answered, and the firm keeps a strict 24 hour return call policy when the attorneys are in court.

Results matter more than adjectives. After a five-day bench trial in Broward County, the firm obtained a 32-page final judgment from the circuit court awarding its client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That kind of outcome comes from preparation at the level of the contract’s exact wording and the parties’ history of dealing, which is how the firm approaches every file.

The firm also represents out-of-state clients, including those from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, who own businesses or property here, and it handles the local court appearances so they do not have to travel for every hearing. A meaningful share of the practice comes from referrals by other attorneys, and the firm keeps referring counsel informed throughout. The firm is experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as the courtroom, and it looks for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget rather than stretching a case out.

Business Disputes We Handle for Riviera Beach Clients

• Business Divorce and Partner Disputes: Deadlocked management, buyout and valuation fights, and breaches of operating or shareholder agreements among LLC members, partners, and shareholders, including minority owners who have been shut out.
• Judicial Dissolution: Florida allows a court to dissolve an LLC when owners are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened, when assets are being misappropriated or wasted, or when it is no longer reasonably practicable to operate under the operating agreement. Corporate shareholders have parallel remedies, including a buyout election that can avoid dissolution.
• Missing Funds and Accountings: Unpaid distributions, diverted company money, disputed capital contributions, and commingled accounts, with claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, and recovery of funds.
• Complex Contract Litigation: Purchase agreements, operating agreements, commercial leases, loan documents, and construction contracts, where the outcome often turns on specific language.
• Partition Actions: Co-owners of real estate who cannot agree can ask the court to divide the property or order it sold and the proceeds split. Former business partners, siblings, and unmarried co-owners commonly use this route.
• Title Disputes and Quiet Title: Competing ownership claims, clouds on title, and conveyances that need to be cancelled or cleared, which Florida courts resolve through quiet title actions.
• Injunctions and Emergency Relief: Temporary and permanent injunctions to stop assets from being moved, spent, or encumbered while a case is pending.
• Family Business Disputes: Siblings, parents and children, and in-laws who co-own a company and disagree over control, pay, or succession.

What to Do When a Business Relationship in Riviera Beach Breaks Down

Start by getting the paper together before tempers rise and access closes. Collect the operating agreement or shareholder agreement, any buy-sell terms, the company’s formation records, tax returns, bank and credit card statements, loan documents, and the emails or texts that show what each owner promised. If you still have access to the company’s accounting system, preserve what is there. Do not delete messages, and do not take records you have no right to take; a well-meant grab of files can become its own problem.

Read your agreement for dispute provisions before you do anything else. Many require mediation or arbitration first, set a venue, or include a deadlock sale mechanism. In an LLC, a deadlock sale clause that is properly started before the court finds grounds for dissolution can take the place of a dissolution order, so the timing of who moves first matters. An attorney can tell you quickly whether your agreement helps or hurts you.

Watch the clock. A claim on a written contract generally must be filed within five years, while oral or implied contract claims have four. A fraud claim runs four years from discovery, subject to an outer limit of 12 years. A suit seeking specific performance of a contract has only one year, which catches owners and buyers off guard. Negligence-based claims, including professional malpractice, run two years. Waiting to see if the other side cools off can quietly cost you a claim.

If money or property is at risk of disappearing, say so early. Courts can issue injunctions, and in dissolution cases can appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing. Those remedies are far easier to get before assets are gone than after.

On venue, claims above the county court ceiling belong in circuit court, which for Riviera Beach means the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit in Palm Beach County, whose main civil courthouse is in West Palm Beach. Smaller disputes may belong in county court, and small claims handle the lowest tier. If the other owner or the property is in Broward County, the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit may be involved, and its complex business division handles business entity dissolutions and large business litigation. Federal cases go to the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale. Choosing the right forum is part of the strategy, not an afterthought.

Finally, resist the urge to negotiate alone with a partner who is already acting against you. Informal admissions and rushed side deals can be used later. A short consultation before the next conversation is usually worth it.

How Florida Courts Untangle Co-Owned Companies and Property

When owners cannot agree, the court’s tools depend on the entity. For an LLC, a member or manager can seek judicial dissolution on the statutory grounds, and the court, once the petition shows sufficient merit, can appoint a receiver or custodian or order that the petitioning member’s interest be purchased. For a corporation, a shareholder can seek dissolution on specified grounds, and the company or other shareholders can elect to buy the petitioner’s shares at fair value. If the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days of the first election, the court enters an order on those terms; otherwise the court sets fair value. That election is generally irrevocable unless the court finds it equitable to modify it. The corporation must notify other shareholders within 30 days of the filing that they may avoid dissolution by buying out the petitioner.

Partition follows a different path. All partition actions are in equity. The complaint must describe the land, identify the owners and their residences, and state each owner’s share. After a judgment of partition, the court appoints three commissioners to decide whether the land can be divided fairly. If division would prejudice the owners, the court can order a public sale and divide the proceeds by ownership interest, and when a credit sale is allowed, 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 actions filed on or after July 1, 2020. If the court finds the property is heirs property, such as tenancy-in-common land acquired from a relative where relatives hold at least twenty percent of the interests, the court must use the Act’s procedures, and a partition in kind is not ordered unless the commissioners considered the statutory factors. In practice, these rules give family co-owners more protection against a forced sale than ordinary partition does.

Quiet title is the remedy when ownership itself is in doubt. A plaintiff claiming legal or equitable title can ask the court to cancel a conveyance or remove a cloud on title, and must generally trace title back at least seven years. Such an action can be filed in any county where part of the land sits.

Riviera Beach Business Litigation Questions, Answered

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 partner out of my Florida LLC?

It depends on your operating agreement and the partner’s conduct. Many agreements have buyout, expulsion, or dissociation clauses, and Florida law offers remedies for serious misconduct or when the company can no longer function. An attorney needs to read your agreement before advising you.

What can I do if a partner is taking company money?

You may have claims for breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, conversion, and recovery of the funds. If assets are at risk of being moved or spent, a court can issue injunctive relief while the case is pending.

How long do I have to sue over a breached contract?

For a written contract, five years. For an oral or implied contract, four. Specific performance has a much shorter period of one year, so a buyer trying to force a closing should not wait.

How does partition work in Florida?

You file in circuit court asking to divide jointly owned property or, if division is impractical, to sell it and split the proceeds. The court appoints three commissioners to evaluate whether a fair division is possible. Heirs property has additional protections.

Does every business dispute end up in court?

No. Many resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and some agreements require it. The firm is experienced in alternative dispute resolution and pursues the path most likely to meet your goals efficiently.

Can a court appoint someone to run my company during a dispute?

In a dissolution case, yes. After notice to the parties and a hearing, a court can appoint a receiver or custodian for an LLC. In a corporate dissolution case, the court can also issue injunctions and take action to preserve assets until a full hearing.

What if my operating agreement has a deadlock sale clause?

If that clause is triggered before the court finds deadlock grounds, it can apply in place of a judicial dissolution order or a court-ordered buyout. Who starts the process first can therefore shape the outcome.

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

Often, yes, if the question is what a claim is worth against what it costs to pursue. Disputes up to the county court ceiling are heard in county court, and a lawyer can tell you early whether the claim justifies litigation or is better settled.

I live in New York and co-own a Riviera Beach property. Can you handle it?

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

Can another lawyer refer a Florida dispute to your firm?

Yes. Referrals from other attorneys, including out-of-state counsel whose clients have Florida disputes, are a significant part of the practice, and the firm keeps referring counsel involved and respects their client relationship.

Can a company get legal help before a dispute starts?

Yes. Through the firm’s outside general counsel program, the firm can serve as registered agent and help with contracts, compliance, and operational questions. Having a litigator review agreements early often keeps a disagreement from becoming a lawsuit.

Serving Business Litigation Clients From Riviera Beach Across South Florida

Our work starts with Riviera Beach and the surrounding Palm Beach County communities: Singer Island, Palm Beach Shores, Lake Park, North Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Juno Beach, Jupiter, and Mangonia Park. We represent owners and investors in West Palm Beach, Lake Worth Beach, Lantana, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, and Belle Glade, and in Boca Raton and its neighboring communities.

Our reach extends south into Broward County, including Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, Plantation, Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, and the communities between them. Clients also come to us from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with business partners or real estate interests in Palm Beach and Broward Counties. Whether the dispute involves a marine business near the port, a warehouse lease, an inherited house, or a company with owners spread across several states, the same approach applies: read the documents closely, pick the right court, and move quickly when assets are at risk.

Talk to a Riviera Beach Business Litigation Attorney Today

If a partner, co-owner, or counterparty has put your company, investment, or property at risk, speak with a Riviera Beach business litigation attorney before the next move is made for you. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team will review your agreements, explain your options, and tell you plainly whether negotiation, mediation, or a lawsuit makes the most sense. Call today to schedule a consultation.