Tamarac Business Litigation Attorney

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in Tamarac who find themselves in a dispute with a partner, co-owner, landlord, buyer, or business associate, and the firm handles those cases in Broward County and across Palm Beach County. Our Tamarac business litigation attorney team focuses on business divorce, partnership and member disputes, complex contract litigation, missing-money cases, partition actions, and real estate litigation, along with the emergency injunctions that sometimes have to be sought before a final judgment is possible.

Tamarac is a city of small and mid-sized companies, many of them owned by two or three people who started together and later disagreed: medical and professional practices, contractors, retail and service operations, rental property holdings, and family-run companies that were handed from one generation to the next. Those ownership structures tend to produce the same few disputes. One owner stops contributing or starts spending company money without explanation. A buyout price cannot be agreed on. A shareholder agreement says one thing and the owners’ actual practice says another. Because Tamarac sits in Broward County, these cases are filed in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which also has a complex business division that handles larger commercial disputes, including the dissolution of certain business entities.

What separates a business case from an ordinary dispute is that the company usually keeps running while the fight goes on. Bank accounts stay open, employees still need to be paid, leases keep coming due, and a partner with access to the books can do real damage in the months it takes to reach trial. Good business litigation is therefore as much about timing and interim protection as it is about the final result.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for a Tamarac Business Dispute

The Andrew M. Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, 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. Senior Counsel Sundeep Nath, a Northwestern-trained litigator, brings years of experience in business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts, which matters when a Tamarac dispute may end up in the Southern District of Florida.

The firm practices as a true legal team, so everyone working on a matter knows the file and can answer when you call. There is a strict 24 hour return call policy when we are in court, and staff will schedule conference calls at times that work for everyone involved. Andrew’s own view is that clients often think they want a hyper-aggressive lawyer when what they actually need is one who acts as the situation requires and uses finesse when finesse will do. The firm is experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and it looks for the resolution that fits the client’s goals and budget rather than stretching a case out for its own sake.

The firm’s courtroom work includes a recent result in Broward County: after a five-day bench trial, the Broward County Circuit Court issued a 32-page final judgment awarding our client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. That kind of outcome depends on reading a contract closely and proving the parties’ course of dealing, which is the same work that drives most business cases. A good share of the firm’s matters also come from referrals by other attorneys, including out of state lawyers whose clients have Florida disputes.

Business Disputes Our Tamarac Clients Bring Us

• Business Divorce: Co-owners who can no longer work together may need a negotiated buyout, a sale of the company, a structured wind-down, or a court-ordered separation. Valuation is usually the hardest part, and the answer often depends on what the operating or shareholder agreement says about how a departing owner is paid.
• LLC Member and Shareholder Disputes: Claims include breach of an operating or shareholder agreement, oppression of a minority owner, freeze-outs from management, and breach of fiduciary duty by those who control the company.
• Judicial Dissolution: Florida’s LLC statute lets a member or manager ask a circuit court to dissolve the company in certain situations, including deadlock that threatens irreparable injury, misappropriation or waste of assets, and conduct that makes it not reasonably practicable to operate under the operating agreement.
• Complex Contract Litigation: Purchase agreements, commercial leases, loan documents, construction contracts, and operating agreements often turn on exact wording and on how the parties actually behaved over time.
• Missing Funds and Accountings: Unpaid distributions, diverted company money, commingled accounts, and disputed capital contributions can support claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, and recovery of the funds.
• Injunctions and Emergency Relief: Temporary and permanent injunctions can freeze assets, stop a partner from moving or spending company money, or protect real property while the case is pending.
• Partition and Title Disputes: Co-owners of real estate, including former business partners, heirs, and investors, can ask the court to divide property or order it sold, and quiet title actions clear up competing ownership claims.
• Family Business Conflicts: Siblings, parents and children, spouses, and in-laws who share ownership face questions of control and compensation that call for discretion alongside firm protection of financial interests.

What to Do and Where to Go When a Business Relationship Breaks Down

Start by securing information before the dispute becomes public. Collect the operating agreement or shareholder agreement, any amendments, the articles filed with the state, capital contribution records, tax returns, bank and credit card statements, and the key emails and texts that show what each owner agreed to. If you still have access to the company’s books and accounts, make copies of what you are entitled to see now. Owners who wait until a partner has locked them out often find that records have disappeared or been changed.

Next, read your agreement for the clauses that control the exit. Some operating and shareholder agreements contain buy-sell terms, deadlock provisions, or required mediation or arbitration before a lawsuit may be filed. These matter because Florida’s dissolution statutes recognize them. A deadlock sale provision that is properly started before a court finds deadlock grounds can take the place of a judicial dissolution order, and a shareholder’s decision to file for dissolution does not cancel a deadlock sale right that the agreement gives. Taking a step that contradicts your own agreement can cost you leverage, so have it reviewed before you act.

Pay attention to filing deadlines, because they differ by claim. A lawsuit on a written contract generally must be filed within five years, while an oral or implied contract carries four years. A fraud claim runs four years from discovery, with an outer limit of twelve years, and an action to rescind a contract has four years. A suit for specific performance has only one year, which is why real estate contract disputes cannot be left to sit. Negligence claims are now limited to two years, and professional malpractice claims also carry two years from when the claim was or should have been discovered. Those numbers are why a conversation with counsel early, not after months of failed negotiation, is the safer course.

Where the case is filed depends on the amount and the subject. A claim above the county court’s ceiling belongs in circuit court, and for Tamarac that means the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County. The court’s complex business division handles larger commercial matters, and a case can be filed directly into that division only by following the circuit’s administrative order, which involves submitting a designated form with the filing. If a defendant lives in Palm Beach County or a property sits there, the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit may be the right forum instead. Federal court in Fort Lauderdale or West Palm Beach can apply where federal jurisdiction exists.

The most common mistakes are confronting a partner before gathering documents, moving money out of a company account in retaliation, and continuing to sign contracts for a company whose ownership is in dispute. Each can hand the other side a claim against you. If money is actively leaving the company, say so in your first call, because emergency relief is a different track from an ordinary lawsuit and depends on moving quickly.

How Florida Courts Resolve Owner Deadlock, Buyouts, and Dissolution

When owners cannot agree and the agreement offers no exit, Florida statutes supply remedies, and they differ by entity type. For an LLC, a circuit court may dissolve the company on a member’s or manager’s petition when the grounds are shown. Those include operations conducted unlawfully, controlling members acting or expected to act illegally or fraudulently, misappropriation or waste of assets that injures the company, or deadlock that cannot be broken and threatens irreparable harm. In these proceedings the court may appoint a receiver or custodian after a hearing with notice to all parties, or may order a purchase of the petitioning member’s interest instead of dissolving, which can preserve the business.

Corporations follow a parallel but separate framework. A shareholder may petition for dissolution on statutory grounds, including abandonment of the business without a timely liquidation. Within 30 days of such a proceeding being filed, the corporation must notify the other shareholders that they can avoid dissolution 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 an election to purchase cannot be revoked unless the court finds it equitable to modify it. During the case, the court can issue injunctions, appoint a receiver or custodian, and take other steps to preserve corporate assets.

Partition follows its own rules when the shared asset is real estate rather than a company. Partition actions in Florida are heard in equity. The complaint must describe the land, name the owners, and state each owner’s share. If the court orders partition, it appoints three commissioners, and if they report that the land cannot be divided without prejudice to the owners, the court may order a sale at public auction with proceeds divided according to ownership interests. Property that qualifies as heirs property, which usually involves inherited tenancy-in-common interests and relatives holding at least a set share, is governed by a separate act that adds protections before a forced sale. Quiet title actions, by contrast, ask the court to determine ownership and remove clouds on title, and the plaintiff generally must trace title for at least seven years before filing.

Frequently Asked Questions About Business Litigation in Tamarac

What is a business divorce?

A business divorce is the separation of co-owners, whether partners, LLC members, or shareholders. It can be resolved by a negotiated buyout, a sale of the company, a structured wind-down, or court-ordered dissolution when the owners cannot agree.

Can I force a business partner out of an LLC in Florida?

It depends on your operating agreement and the conduct involved. Many agreements include buyout, expulsion, or dissociation provisions, and Florida law provides remedies when a member has engaged in serious misconduct or the company can no longer function. An attorney can review your agreement and explain what is available.

What can I do if a partner is taking money from the business?

You may have claims for breach of fiduciary duty, an accounting, conversion, and recovery of the funds. In urgent situations a court can issue injunctive relief to stop assets from being moved or spent while the dispute is pending.

How long do I have to sue for breach of a written contract?

Five years under Florida law for a contract founded on a written instrument. Oral and implied contracts have four years, and a specific performance action has one year, so the type of claim changes the clock considerably.

Does every business dispute have to go to court?

No. Many disputes are resolved through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and some agreements require those steps first. Our attorneys are experienced in alternative dispute resolution and pursue the path most likely to achieve your goals efficiently.

Which court would hear my Tamarac business case?

Most substantial business disputes involving Tamarac parties are heard in the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Broward County. Smaller claims go to county court, which handles amounts up to a ceiling that is adjusted periodically, while claims above it belong in circuit court.

What is Broward’s complex business division, and does my case qualify?

The Seventeenth Circuit created complex business and tort divisions to handle matters such as dissolution of certain business entities, assignments for the benefit of creditors, and large business and construction litigation. A case may be filed directly into the division only by following the circuit’s administrative order, so whether yours qualifies depends on its size and subject.

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

Yes, in dissolution proceedings a court can appoint a receiver or custodian after notice and a hearing, and in corporate cases it can also issue injunctions and take other steps to preserve assets and carry on the business until a full hearing. It is a serious remedy used when the company or its assets are at real risk.

What happens if my operating agreement has a deadlock sale clause?

If the clause is properly initiated before a court finds deadlock grounds, it can apply in place of a judicial dissolution order or a court-ordered purchase. That makes it important to read the clause before filing anything, since the way you proceed can change which remedy controls.

My co-owner and I inherited a building together. Can I make him sell?

A co-owner can ask the court for partition, and where the property qualifies as heirs property a separate statutory process applies, with added steps before a court can order a sale. Whether the property is divided, bought out, or sold depends on its character and the owners’ interests.

I live in New York or New Jersey but own a Florida business interest. Can you handle it?

Yes. We regularly represent clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with business or real estate interests in South Florida, handle the Florida court appearances, and keep you informed so you do not need to travel for every hearing.

Is it worth hiring a lawyer before a dispute turns into a lawsuit?

Often it is, because a review of your agreements or an early demand can resolve a disagreement or preserve rights you would otherwise lose. The firm’s outside general counsel program serves companies that want a litigator available before problems start, including as registered agent.

Serving Business Litigation Clients From Tamarac Across South Florida

Our work for Tamarac clients starts in the city itself and in the neighboring Broward communities where its business owners also operate, including Sunrise, Lauderhill, Plantation, Coral Springs, Margate, Coconut Creek, North Lauderdale, Lauderdale Lakes, Oakland Park, Pompano Beach, and Fort Lauderdale. We also represent owners and investors in Deerfield Beach, Parkland, Davie, Weston, Hollywood, and Pembroke Pines, and appear in the Broward courts that serve those communities.

Clients with interests in Palm Beach County come to us from Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth, Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter, and West Palm Beach. Because the Southern District of Florida holds court in Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, we can follow a dispute into federal court when the facts call for it. The firm also serves clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut whose partners, co-owners, or properties are located here.

Speak With a Tamarac Business Litigation Lawyer

When a partner is draining the company, an agreement is being ignored, or co-owners are deadlocked over a business or a building, the options narrow as time passes. If you need a Tamarac business litigation lawyer who will review your agreements, tell you plainly where you stand, and move quickly where emergency relief is warranted, call the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team to schedule a consultation. We will talk through your situation, the deadlines that apply, and the most practical route to protecting what you have built.