South Florida Breach of Contract Attorney

A contract dispute is rarely about the contract alone. It is about whether the other side can be made to do what it promised, whether money is owed and how much, and whether a deadline you did not know about is already running. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles South Florida breach of contract cases for business owners, investors, and families in Palm Beach County and Broward County, including purchase agreements, operating and shareholder agreements, commercial leases, loan documents, and construction contracts.

Most breach claims come down to two questions: what the paper actually says, and what the parties did afterward. A clause that looks airtight can be undercut by years of informal dealing, and an agreement that looks sloppy can be enforced exactly as written. Those details decide whether you recover damages, force performance, or walk away from a deal on clean terms.

The remedy matters as much as the breach. Some clients need a money judgment. Others need a court to order the other side to close on a property or stop moving company assets while the case is pending. Choosing the right remedy early, and filing within the right deadline for it, shapes everything that follows.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for Contract Litigation

The Andrew M. Founder Andrew M. Schwartz has spent 37 years in litigation, admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989, with a career built around complex contract disputes, business divorces, and conflicts among 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. The firm serves clients in Boca Raton, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and throughout Palm Beach County and Broward County, along with clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who have business or real estate interests in South Florida.

Andrew is joined by Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator with years of experience in business and real estate cases in state and federal courts. The firm practices as a true legal team, so everyone working on your matter knows the file, and a strict 24 hour return call policy applies when we are in court and cannot pick up right away. Out of state clients are kept informed at every stage while the firm handles the local court appearances.

Results in contract cases are earned in the record. After a 5-day bench trial, a Broward County Circuit Court issued a 32-page final judgment awarding one of our clients specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That outcome reflects the kind of detailed, document-driven preparation these cases require. No attorney can guarantee a result, but we look for the resolution that fits your goals and your budget rather than stretching a case out for its own sake, and our attorneys are experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation.

Types of Contract Disputes We Handle Across Palm Beach and Broward

• Purchase and Sale Contract Disputes: Failed closings on commercial and residential property, sellers who walk away after a deal is signed, and buyers who cannot or will not close. These cases often end in damages or in a court order compelling the sale.
• Operating and Shareholder Agreement Breaches: Owners who ignore buyout provisions, voting requirements, or transfer restrictions, or who act against the company in violation of what they signed.
• Commercial Lease Disputes: Disagreements over rent, operating expense pass-throughs, default, and termination between landlords and business tenants.
• Loan and Financing Documents: Defaults, guaranty disputes, and conflicts over repayment terms between lenders, borrowers, and personal guarantors.
• Construction Contracts: Payment disputes, defective or incomplete work, and delay claims between owners, contractors, and subcontractors.
• Unpaid Distributions and Missing Funds: Partners or managers who withhold profits, divert company money, or cannot account for it, often paired with fiduciary duty and accounting claims.
• Family Business Agreements: Siblings, parents, and children who disagree over compensation, control, or buyout terms under agreements they signed years ago.
• Oral and Implied Agreements: Deals made on a handshake or proven through conduct, which are harder to litigate but still enforceable in many circumstances.

What to Do Right Now When the Other Side Breaks the Deal

Start by pulling every document connected to the agreement: the signed contract, amendments, side letters, emails, text messages, invoices, and payment records. In contract cases, the written record usually matters more than anyone’s memory. Do not delete messages, even ones you think hurt you, and avoid fresh written exchanges with the other side that characterize what happened before you have had advice.

Next, find the deadline. For a claim founded on a written contract, Florida allows five years to sue. A claim on an oral or implied contract gets four years. A claim to rescind a contract also has a four-year period, and a fraud claim runs four years from discovery, with an outer cap of 12 years. Specific performance is the trap: an action seeking it carries only a one-year period. If your goal is to force a closing or compel performance rather than collect money, waiting to see how things develop can cost you that remedy. Also read your contract for notice and cure provisions, because many agreements require written notice of default and a cure window before you can sue, and skipping that step can hand the other side an early defense.

Where you file depends mostly on the amount at stake. Claims above $50,000 belong in circuit court, while smaller claims between $8,000.01 and $50,000 go to county civil court, and small claims handle disputes up to $8,000. Palm Beach County cases are filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Palm Beach County, with the main courthouse in West Palm Beach and additional courthouses serving Palm Beach Gardens, Delray Beach, and the western communities. Broward County cases belong in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, centered in Fort Lauderdale, with regional courthouses in Deerfield Beach, Hollywood, and Plantation. Contracts that raise federal questions or involve parties from different states can end up in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach.

Broward has a feature worth knowing about. Its Seventeenth Circuit maintains complex business divisions that handle large business and construction litigation and the dissolution of certain business entities, and a case can be filed directly into those divisions under the circuit’s administrative procedure. For a significant commercial dispute, that routing can put the case in front of a judge who sees this kind of litigation regularly.

Finally, think about whether money is at risk of disappearing. If the other side is moving assets, spending company funds, or about to transfer property, a temporary or emergency injunction may need to be sought early, before the case reaches the merits. That decision should not wait for a demand letter to run its course.

Breach of Contract Versus the Claims People Confuse It With

Clients often arrive describing a contract problem that is really something else, or several things at once, and the label matters because the deadline and remedy change with it. A negligence claim carries a two-year deadline in Florida after the 2023 reform, while a written contract claim still has five years. A professional malpractice claim, even when it grows out of a contract with a professional, runs two years from when it was or should have been discovered. Picking the wrong theory can mean filing late on the right one.

Partners and LLC members add another layer. When the dispute is between co-owners, a breach of the operating or shareholder agreement is often paired with a breach of fiduciary duty claim, and sometimes with a request for judicial dissolution. For an LLC, Florida law allows a court to dissolve the company on a member’s petition where managers or members are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened, where assets are being misappropriated or wasted, or where it is no longer reasonably practicable to operate under the operating agreement. For a corporation, shareholder remedies can include a court-supervised buyout, where the corporation or the other shareholders elect to purchase the petitioner’s shares at fair value. If the agreement already contains a deadlock sale mechanism, that provision can take priority, which is another reason to read your documents closely before choosing a path.

Real property creates its own distinctions. A contract to buy land may support specific performance. A dispute among co-owners who cannot agree on what to do with the property may call for a partition action, and a cloud on ownership may call for a quiet title action. These are different lawsuits with different elements, even when they trace back to the same signed agreement.

Common Questions About Breach of Contract Claims in South Florida

What counts as a breach of contract?

A breach occurs when a party fails to perform something the agreement required, performs it late or defectively, or refuses to perform at all. To win, you generally need to show a valid contract, a material failure to perform, and damages that resulted.

How long do I have to file a breach of contract lawsuit in Florida?

Five years for a claim founded on a written contract, and four years for oral or implied contracts. These periods are separate from the shorter deadlines that apply to other claims, so the way your case is framed affects how much time you have.

Is the deadline different if I want the court to force the other side to perform?

Yes. An action for specific performance carries a one-year period, much shorter than the period for a damages claim. If you want the deal completed rather than just compensation, that clock deserves immediate attention.

Do oral agreements count?

They can be enforceable, but they are harder to prove and some types of agreements must be in writing to be enforced. The deadline is also shorter, at four years. Emails, texts, payment history, and witnesses often become the contract.

What damages can I recover?

Typically the money needed to put you where you would have been had the contract been performed. Depending on the agreement and the facts, that can include lost profits, out-of-pocket losses, and in some cases attorney fees if the contract provides for them. Reviewing the fee clause early is worthwhile.

Should I send a demand letter first?

Often, yes, and some contracts require written notice and an opportunity to cure before suing. A well-drafted letter can also resolve a dispute without a filing. But it should be written with the eventual lawsuit in mind, because what you say in it can be used later.

Which court will hear my case?

That depends on the amount in controversy and the parties. Claims above $50,000 go to circuit court, mid-sized claims go to county civil court, and small claims cover amounts up to $8,000. Palm Beach County cases go to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit and Broward County cases to the Seventeenth.

My contract has an arbitration clause. Can I still go to court?

Often not, at least not for the merits. Courts generally enforce arbitration clauses, so the first question is whether the clause covers your dispute. Our attorneys are experienced in arbitration and mediation as well as litigation, so we can advise on the forum that applies.

The other side is moving money while we argue. Can I stop it?

In urgent situations, a court can issue temporary or emergency injunctive relief to prevent assets from being moved or spent while the case is pending. You need to show why waiting for a final judgment would cause harm that money alone cannot fix.

I live in New York or New Jersey. Do I have to travel to Florida for every hearing?

No. We regularly represent clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with Florida business or real estate interests, handling the local court appearances and keeping you informed through scheduled calls.

Do most contract disputes end up in a trial?

No. Many resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration. We prepare every case as if it may be tried, because that preparation is what gives a settlement position its weight, but we pursue the path most likely to meet your goals efficiently.

Can a breach of contract case be combined with a partnership or LLC dispute?

Yes, and they frequently are. A breach of an operating or shareholder agreement is often brought alongside fiduciary duty, accounting, or dissolution claims, depending on what the owners agreed to and how they have behaved.

Serving Contract Litigation Clients From Palm Beach County to Broward County

Our contract work begins in Palm Beach County, where we represent clients in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, and Belle Glade. We also work with business owners and landlords in Greenacres, Riviera Beach, and the neighborhoods surrounding those communities.

Across the county line in Broward County, we handle disputes for clients in Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Coral Springs, Parkland, Plantation, Sunrise, Hollywood, and Hallandale Beach, along with Davie, Weston, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, and Coconut Creek. Whether the contract was signed in a commercial corridor, a medical office park, or a waterfront development, the same principles govern enforcement. Because many of our clients live outside Florida, we also work with owners and investors from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut whose business partners, tenants, or co-owners are here in South Florida, and we accept referrals from other attorneys whose clients have Florida disputes.

Speak With a South Florida Breach of Contract Lawyer Before the Deadline Decides for You

The right time to talk to a breach of contract attorney is before the other side’s version of events hardens and before a limitations period quietly expires. Bring the contract, the correspondence, and whatever you know about where the money or property stands, and we will tell you plainly what claims you have, what remedy fits, and how to pursue it cost-effectively.

Contact the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team to schedule a consultation. If the dispute is already costing you money or putting an asset at risk, tell us when you call so we can address the most time-sensitive issues first.