Sunrise General Counsel

A company in Sunrise that waits until a partner stops answering emails or a tenant stops paying to find a lawyer has already lost some of its best options. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team handles outside Sunrise general counsel work for business owners, investors, and family companies in Broward County and across South Florida, alongside the business litigation and real estate disputes that follow when things go wrong.

The reasoning behind a general counsel arrangement is simple. Most business disputes that end up in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit started as a gap in a contract, an operating agreement nobody updated, a lease that said less than the parties assumed, or a notice sent the wrong way. A litigator who reads your agreements before there is a fight tends to write them differently than a lawyer who has never watched one get picked apart in front of a judge.

Outside counsel also means you are not paying for an in-house attorney you may not need full time. You get a firm that already knows your documents and your people, and that can move quickly when something lands on your desk at four in the afternoon.

What Outside General Counsel Looks Like for a Sunrise Business

Outside general counsel is a standing relationship, not a one-off engagement. Instead of calling a lawyer for the first time in the middle of a crisis, you have a firm that has already read your operating agreement, understands who owns what, and knows how your company actually makes decisions. When a vendor threatens suit or a co-owner starts acting strangely, the first call is not an introduction.

In practice, the work is a steady stream of ordinary questions. Does this contract language bind us? Can we terminate this lease, and what notice do we owe? A partner wants to bring in an investor; what does our agreement say about consent? A customer is demanding a refund and threatening to sue; what is our exposure? Answering these early, in writing, is cheaper than answering them in a deposition.

The firm also serves as registered agent for companies in its general counsel program. That detail matters more than it sounds. Service of a lawsuit goes to the registered agent, and a company whose agent is an unmonitored mailbox, a former employee, or a long-gone accountant can end up with a default entered before anyone senior knows there was a complaint. Having a law firm receive and immediately escalate legal papers closes that gap.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team as Your Sunrise Business Counsel

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business litigation and real estate firm that represents business owners, investors, and families in Broward County, Palm Beach County, and throughout South Florida, including Sunrise, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Boca Raton. Founder Andrew M. Schwartz 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 among 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.

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. That federal experience is relevant in South Florida, where the Southern District of Florida sits in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach and where contract and real estate disputes between parties in different states sometimes end up there.

The firm practices as a true legal team, meaning everyone working on a matter knows the file and can respond when a client calls. There is a strict 24 hour return call policy when attorneys are in court or otherwise unavailable. For a general counsel client, that responsiveness is most of the product: a business question usually has a clock on it.

The litigation background is what separates this from a transactional-only arrangement. In November 2024 the firm announced a final judgment, issued after a five-day bench trial in Broward County Circuit Court, awarding its client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract; the judgment ran 32 pages. Lawyers who have tried contract cases to judgment draft with an eye toward how a judge will read the document later. The firm is also experienced in mediation and arbitration, and Andrew’s own view is that clients want a lawyer who uses finesse when finesse will do and who keeps fees sensible relative to what is at stake.

A meaningful share of the firm’s work comes from other attorneys, including out of state lawyers whose clients have Florida disputes. The firm also represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who own businesses or real estate in South Florida and handles the local court appearances so they do not have to travel for every hearing.

What a Business Needs From a General Counsel Relationship

• Contract Drafting and Review: Purchase agreements, vendor and customer contracts, commercial leases, loan documents, and construction contracts are reviewed before signature, with attention to the clauses that decide disputes later: termination, indemnity, notice, venue, and fee-shifting.
• Operating and Shareholder Agreements: Buy-sell terms, deadlock provisions, transfer restrictions, and valuation formulas are far easier to negotiate while the owners still get along. A well-built deadlock sale provision can control the outcome if the owners later split.
• Commercial Lease Questions: Whether you lease space for a Sunrise storefront or own an investment property with tenants, notice requirements, default and cure language, and renewal terms are common sources of disputes.
• Registered Agent Service: The firm receives legal process on behalf of companies in its program, so a summons or complaint reaches an attorney immediately instead of sitting unopened.
• Compliance and Operational Questions: Day-to-day issues such as entity maintenance, owner approvals, and how to document a decision so it holds up later.
• Family and Closely Held Business Planning: Siblings, parents and children, and spouses who share ownership face questions about control, compensation, and succession that are best settled in writing before they become disputes.
• Early Dispute Intervention: Demand letters, negotiated resolutions, and mediation, often resolving a disagreement before a complaint is filed.
• Real Estate Co-Ownership and Title: Joint ownership arrangements, partition exposure, and title clean-up for investors who hold property with partners or relatives.

What to Do When a Business Problem Is Already Developing

If something has already gone sideways, start by collecting the documents that govern the relationship: the signed contract or lease, the operating or shareholder agreement, amendments, and the correspondence that shows what each side did. Written instruments tend to control, and the paper trail around them often decides close questions. Do not delete or tidy up emails or texts, even the unflattering ones; destroying records after a dispute is foreseeable can create problems far worse than the underlying disagreement.

Pay attention to deadlines, because they differ by claim type. Under Florida law, a claim founded on a written instrument generally must be filed within five years, while an oral or implied contract claim carries four years. A fraud claim runs four years from discovery, subject to an outer limit of twelve years. An action for specific performance is subject to a one-year period, which surprises people who assume the longer contract periods apply. Professional malpractice claims carry two years from when they were or should have been discovered. Waiting to see if things blow over can quietly burn through these periods.

Where money may be leaving the company, speed matters more than anything else. A court can be asked for emergency injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved or spent while the case is pending, but that request only works if you act before the funds are gone and can show what is happening. Bank statements, ledgers, and a clear timeline are the raw material.

Know where your case would be heard. Broward County cases are heard in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which includes a complex business division for matters such as business entity dissolution and large business and construction disputes, and county civil court for smaller claims. Palm Beach County disputes belong to the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit. Federal cases involving either county go to the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach. The amount in controversy generally determines whether a case belongs in county court or circuit court, and that threshold is adjusted periodically, so confirm it before filing.

The mistakes we see most often are signing a settlement or buyout term sheet without reading the release language, confronting a partner in writing in a way that creates evidence against you, and treating an informal handshake understanding as if it were enforceable. If you are a landlord, one more: with a nonpaying tenant, accepting a partial payment after posting a three-day notice does not waive your right to proceed, but you still have to handle it correctly, by giving a receipt, depositing it with the court, or serving a new notice for the corrected amount. A general counsel relationship exists to catch these before they cost you.

When Co-Owners Part Ways: Dissolution, Buyouts, and Partition

General counsel work does not stop at advice. When a relationship among owners breaks down, the same firm that knows your documents can move into the dispute itself. Florida’s LLC statute lists specific grounds on which a member or manager may ask a circuit court to dissolve a company, including that managers or members are deadlocked and irreparable injury is threatened, that it is no longer reasonably practicable to operate under the operating agreement, or that company assets are being misappropriated or wasted. The court can also appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing, or order the purchase of a petitioning member’s interest instead of dissolving the company.

Corporations have a parallel framework. In a judicial dissolution proceeding, the corporation or the other shareholders can elect to buy out the petitioning shareholder at fair value, and if the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days after the first election, the court enters an order on those terms. Importantly, if the shareholder agreement contains a compliant deadlock sale provision, a shareholder can still use it. That is exactly why drafting these clauses early matters.

Real estate co-ownership produces its own category of fights. A partition action under Florida’s partition statutes lets a co-owner ask the court to divide property or, where division is not practical, to order it sold and split the proceeds. Courts appoint commissioners to evaluate whether a physical division would prejudice the owners, and property inherited among relatives may fall under the heirs property rules, which add protections before a forced sale. Quiet title actions are the companion tool for clearing competing ownership claims, and a plaintiff generally must trace title back at least seven years.

Questions Sunrise Business Owners Ask About Outside General Counsel

What is outside general counsel, and how is it different from hiring a lawyer when I have a problem?

Outside general counsel is an ongoing relationship in which a firm serves as your company’s lawyer on a continuing basis, handling contracts, compliance, and operational questions as they arise. Hiring a lawyer only after a problem begins means starting from scratch, with no knowledge of your documents or history.

Is a general counsel arrangement worth it for a small or family-owned company?

Often more so than for a large one, because small companies usually have informal agreements and no one inside who spots legal risk. Family and closely held businesses carry the added issue that relationships and ownership are tangled together, and clear written terms prevent a lot of later conflict.

Can the same firm that advises me also represent me in a lawsuit?

Yes. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a litigation firm, so if an advisory matter turns into a dispute, the lawyers who know your documents can take it into negotiation, mediation, arbitration, or court.

What does it mean that the firm acts as registered agent?

The registered agent is the party designated to receive lawsuits and official notices for your company. When the firm serves in that role through its general counsel program, legal papers go directly to attorneys who can act on them, which reduces the risk of a missed deadline or a default.

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

Generally five years for a claim founded on a written instrument. Other claims have different periods: four years for oral or implied contracts, four years from discovery for fraud with a twelve-year outer limit, and just one year for an action seeking specific performance. Which period applies depends on how the claim is framed, so get the analysis done early.

Can I force a business partner out of my LLC?

It depends first on your operating agreement, which may contain buyout, expulsion, or dissociation provisions. Florida law also provides court remedies in cases of serious misconduct or where the company can no longer function, including judicial dissolution or a court-ordered purchase of a member’s interest.

My partner is withdrawing money without explanation. What should I do right now?

Preserve bank and accounting records and avoid tipping off the partner in writing before you have counsel. Potential claims include an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, and recovery of the funds, and when assets are at risk a court can be asked for emergency injunctive relief to stop them from being moved.

Does a deadlock provision in my agreement override a lawsuit for dissolution?

In many cases a properly drafted deadlock sale provision that is initiated before the court finds grounds will apply in place of a judicial dissolution order. This is one reason to review your agreement before you file anything, since the contract may dictate the exit path.

I own property in Broward County but live in New York. Can the firm handle everything locally?

Yes. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with business or real estate interests in South Florida, handles local court appearances, and keeps you informed so you are not required to travel for each hearing.

Do business disputes always end up in court?

No. Many resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and the firm’s lawyers are experienced in all three as well as in the courtroom. The aim is the resolution that fits your goals and budget, not a longer case for its own sake.

Will a lawyer from outside my own state or another firm be able to refer me to your firm?

Yes. The firm accepts referrals from other attorneys, including out of state lawyers whose clients have Florida disputes and Florida lawyers who do not handle business litigation, and it communicates with referring counsel throughout the matter.

General Counsel Representation Across Sunrise and Broward County

The firm provides general counsel and business litigation services to companies in Sunrise and throughout Broward County. That includes owners and investors in Plantation, Fort Lauderdale, Weston, Davie, Tamarac, Lauderhill, Lauderdale Lakes, Coral Springs, Pembroke Pines, Hollywood, Deerfield Beach, Pompano Beach, Coconut Creek, Margate, Parkland, and Oakland Park, along with many of the smaller communities in between.

The firm also serves clients in neighboring Palm Beach County, including Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, West Palm Beach, and Palm Beach Gardens, and works with clients in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or real estate interests in South Florida. Whether the issue is a commercial lease in a Broward shopping center, a partnership with a co-owner across the county line, or an investment property shared with relatives up north, the same team handles it.

Talk to a Sunrise General Counsel Attorney Before the Dispute Starts

If you are looking for a Sunrise general counsel attorney who also tries cases, the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team can review your agreements, serve as your company’s registered agent, and stand ready if a disagreement turns adversarial. Call to schedule a consultation and talk through what your business needs, whether that is a contract review, a long-term counsel relationship, or a dispute that is already underway.