West Palm Beach Business Litigation Attorney

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team represents business owners, investors, and families in West Palm Beach and across Palm Beach County who find themselves in a fight over a company, a contract, or a piece of property. If you are searching for a West Palm Beach business litigation attorney, the dispute you have in mind probably does not look like a typical lawsuit between strangers. More often it is between people who used to trust each other: partners who stopped speaking, LLC members who cannot agree on a sale, siblings who inherited a building, or a manager who cannot explain where the money went.

That distinction shapes everything about how these cases are handled. A claim between two co-owners is rarely just about a breach. It is also about control of the company, access to its books, whether the business can keep operating while the case is pending, and whether someone needs a court order now rather than a judgment in two years. Cases filed in West Palm Beach are heard in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, which sits in and for Palm Beach County, and certain federal claims land in the Southern District of Florida, which holds court in West Palm Beach as well.

People often confuse business litigation with business transactions, or assume a “partnership dispute” is the same thing as a contract dispute. They overlap, but the tools differ. A contract claim asks a court to enforce or interpret a written agreement. A business divorce asks a court to untangle ownership. A partition action splits real estate. An injunction freezes the situation before any of that is decided. Knowing which one fits your facts is the first real decision in the case.

Why Choose the Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team for West Palm Beach Business Disputes

The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team is a business and real estate litigation firm serving Palm Beach County, Broward County, and the rest of South Florida, along with clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or property interests here. Andrew M. Schwartz, the firm’s founder, was admitted to The Florida Bar in 1989 and has spent 37 years in litigation. His career has centered on 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 handling business and real estate cases in both state and federal courts. That matters in a market where a dispute can start in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit and end up in federal court depending on who the parties are and what is claimed.

The firm works as a true legal team, meaning everyone on a matter knows the file and can answer when a client calls. There is a strict 24 hour return call policy when someone is in court or otherwise tied up, and conference calls are scheduled at times that work for everyone involved. The firm is experienced in mediation and arbitration as well as courtroom litigation, and it looks for the resolution that fits a client’s goals and budget rather than stretching a case out for its own sake.

Results matter more than adjectives. After a 5-day bench trial, a Broward County circuit judge issued a 32-page final judgment awarding the firm’s client specific performance of a commercial real estate contract. Specific performance is a demanding remedy, because the court orders the other side to actually complete the deal rather than simply pay damages. It reflects the kind of detailed, document-driven preparation these cases require.

The firm also handles a good deal of work referred by other attorneys, including out of state lawyers whose clients have disputes in Florida and Florida lawyers who do not handle business litigation. Referring counsel stay informed throughout, and the referring attorney’s relationship with the client is respected.

Business Disputes We Handle for West Palm Beach Owners and Investors

• Business Divorce and Partnership Disputes: Deadlocked management, buyouts, valuation fights, breaches of operating and shareholder agreements, and judicial dissolution among partners, LLC members, and shareholders, including minority owners who feel frozen out.
• Complex Contract Litigation: Purchase agreements, operating agreements, shareholder agreements, commercial leases, loan documents, and construction contracts, where the outcome often turns on exact wording and the parties’ history of dealing.
• Missing Funds and Money Disputes: Unpaid distributions, diverted company money, disputed capital contributions, commingled accounts, and managers who cannot account for company funds, with claims for an accounting, breach of fiduciary duty, and recovery.
• Family Business Disputes: Siblings who inherited a company together, parents and children with different plans for it, and spouses or in-laws who share ownership and disagree about control and compensation.
• Partition Actions: Co-owners of real estate who cannot agree what to do with it, including former business partners, heirs, unmarried couples, and investors trying to exit a shared property.
• Title Disputes and Quiet Title Actions: Competing ownership claims and clouds on title, where a court is asked to cancel a defective conveyance or confirm who actually owns the land.
• Temporary and Permanent Injunctions: Emergency and early relief to stop assets from being moved or spent and to preserve company property while the case proceeds.
• Real Estate Contract and Landlord-Tenant Disputes: Failed closings, purchase and sale disagreements, and commercial and residential landlord and tenant conflicts.

Business Divorce Under Florida Law: What a Court Can Actually Do

When owners cannot continue together, Florida’s statutes give a court real options, but the grounds are specific. For a limited liability company, a manager or member can ask the circuit court to dissolve the company on several grounds. These include that carrying on the business in line with the articles and operating agreement is no longer reasonably practicable, that those in control have acted or are expected to act illegally or fraudulently, that assets are being misappropriated or wasted and causing injury, or that the managers or members are deadlocked and irreparable injury to the company is threatened or already happening.

Dissolution is not the only outcome. In an LLC dissolution case, once there is a showing of sufficient merit, a court may appoint a receiver or custodian or order a purchase of the petitioning member’s interest. Before a receiver or custodian is appointed, the court must hold a hearing after notifying the parties. One wrinkle worth checking early: if your operating agreement has a deadlock sale provision and someone starts it before the court finds that deadlock grounds exist, that contractual mechanism can take the place of a dissolution order. Your agreement may decide your remedy before a judge ever does.

Corporations follow a parallel but different track. A circuit court can dissolve a corporation or order another remedy, including when a shareholder shows the business has been abandoned and not wound up within a reasonable time. In these proceedings, the corporation, or if it does not act, one or more shareholders, can elect to buy out the petitioning shareholder 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. The corporation must also notify the other shareholders within 30 days of the case starting that they can avoid dissolution by electing to buy. Throughout, a court can issue injunctions, appoint a receiver or custodian, and take steps to preserve assets while the case is pending. Many owners are surprised that a lawsuit seeking dissolution can end with the plaintiff being bought out instead.

Partition and Title Disputes Over West Palm Beach Real Property

Real estate disputes between co-owners follow their own rules. All partition actions in Florida are heard in chancery. The complaint has to describe the land, name the owners and where they live, and state what share each holds. After a judgment of partition, the court appoints three commissioners, chosen by the court unless the parties agree. If the commissioners report that the land cannot be divided without prejudice to the owners, the court may order it sold at public auction, with proceeds split in proportion to each owner’s interest. A sale on credit is possible for good cause, but at least one-third of the purchase money must be paid down unless everyone agrees otherwise.

One distinction matters a great deal for families. Florida has adopted the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, which applies to partition actions filed on or after July 1, 2020. If a court finds that the property is heirs property, meaning co-tenants who hold title in common without a binding agreement on partition, with at least one co-tenant having acquired title from a relative and further conditions such as twenty percent or more of the interests being held by relatives, the court must apply the heirs property rules instead. Under those rules, partition in kind comes before sale, and a court cannot order division in kind unless commissioners have weighed the statutory factors and found that division would prejudice the co-tenants as a group. For siblings who inherited a property, that can change the whole strategy.

Quiet title is a different question: not how to divide land, but who owns it. A court can determine title and cancel a conveyance or other evidence of title held by someone who is not the rightful owner. The suit can be filed in any county where any part of the land sits, and the plaintiff generally must trace title back at least seven years before filing unless the court orders otherwise. Adverse possession claims are a related problem that surfaces in these cases, and they require seven years of continuous possession under the statutory conditions, with recording requirements when the claim rests on color of title.

What to Do Right Now When a Co-Owner or Counterparty Turns Adversarial

Start with the documents, because they decide more than most people expect. Pull together the operating agreement or shareholder agreement, the articles of organization or incorporation, any buy-sell provisions, bank and accounting records you are entitled to see, tax returns, capital contribution records, and the emails and texts that show how the parties actually dealt with each other. If real estate is involved, gather the deed, closing statement, and any loan documents. Do not delete anything and do not take records you are not entitled to take; both can hurt you later.

Then look at the calendar. Florida sets different deadlines for different claims. A claim on a written contract generally must be filed within five years, while an oral or implied contract claim has four. A fraud claim has four years from discovery, with an outer limit of 12 years. A suit to rescind a contract has four years. An action for specific performance has a one-year period, which is short and catches people off guard when a real estate deal falls through. A professional malpractice claim, whether framed in contract or tort, has a two-year period that runs from when it was or should have been discovered. Negligence claims now have a two-year limit for causes of action accruing after March 24, 2023. Waiting to see how things play out can quietly cost you a claim.

If money may be leaving the company or property may be sold out from under you, speak with a business litigation attorney in West Palm Beach before the dispute hardens. An injunction request is time-sensitive by nature, and the stronger your documentation of what is being moved and by whom, the better the request reads to a judge.

On venue, a Palm Beach County case over more than the county court’s jurisdictional ceiling is filed in circuit court, which handles larger civil disputes, at the main courthouse in West Palm Beach. Disputes involving Broward County parties or property go to the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, which has a complex business division that handles matters like business entity dissolution and large business litigation. Expect early case management, and expect that a good lawyer will also explore mediation or arbitration if it can resolve the dispute faster and more cheaply than a trial.

Common Questions About Business Litigation in West Palm Beach

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 a 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 what the partner has done. Many agreements contain buyout, expulsion, or dissociation provisions, and Florida law provides remedies for serious misconduct or when the company can no longer function. A lawyer should read your agreement before you take any step.

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 cases 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 over a broken written contract?

Five years for a claim founded on a written instrument. Oral and implied contract claims have a shorter four-year period. Specific performance has just one year, so a failed real estate closing calls for quick attention.

How does a partition action work in Florida?

A court divides jointly owned property or, when division is not practical, orders it sold and splits the proceeds. Commissioners are appointed to evaluate the property, and different rules apply if it qualifies as heirs property.

Do I need to go to court for every business dispute?

No. Many disputes resolve through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration, and the firm has experience in each. The right path is the one most likely to meet your goals efficiently.

Can a lawsuit to dissolve a company end with me being bought out instead?

Yes. In both LLC and corporate dissolution cases, a court can order a buyout of the petitioning owner’s interest, and in a shareholder case the corporation or other shareholders can elect to buy at fair value. If the parties agree on value and terms within 60 days after the first election, the court enters an order on those terms.

My operating agreement has a deadlock provision. Does it matter if I file in court?

It can matter a great deal. If a deadlock sale provision is started before the court determines that deadlock grounds exist, it can apply in place of a judicial dissolution or court-ordered buyout, so the order of events is worth planning.

My siblings and I inherited a building and one of us wants out. Can that person force a sale?

A co-owner can ask a court for partition, but when the property qualifies as heirs property Florida’s special rules apply, including a preference for dividing the land and a requirement that a court find division would prejudice the co-owners as a group before it can order a sale. These cases are very fact-specific.

Is a failed commercial closing worth litigating?

It can be, particularly when the property is unique and money damages will not make you whole. A court can order specific performance, which requires the other side to complete the deal, though the one-year limit means you cannot wait long to decide.

I live in New York or New Jersey. Can the firm handle my West Palm Beach dispute without my traveling for every hearing?

Yes. The firm regularly represents clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut with Florida business and real estate interests, handles the local court appearances, and keeps them informed at every stage.

Does the firm take referrals from other attorneys?

Yes. A significant part of the practice comes from referrals, including out of state attorneys with clients who have disputes in Florida. The firm communicates with referring counsel throughout the matter.

Serving West Palm Beach Business Litigation Clients Across Palm Beach and Broward Counties

The firm represents clients from the heart of West Palm Beach, including downtown and the neighborhoods around it, and from the island town of Palm Beach just across the water. We also work with owners and investors in Lake Worth Beach, Lantana, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, and Boca Raton, as well as Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, North Palm Beach, Riviera Beach, Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, and Belle Glade. For many of these clients, a partner or co-owner is local while they themselves are not.

The firm’s reach extends south into Broward County, where it represents clients in Fort Lauderdale and the surrounding communities, and it serves South Florida as a whole. Clients from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut who hold business or real estate interests here work with the firm too. Whether the dispute is a boardroom standoff, a family-owned property, or a contract that fell apart, the same team handles the matter from the first call through the courtroom.

Talk With a West Palm Beach Business Litigation Lawyer Today

If a business relationship has broken down, money is missing, or a co-owner is refusing to move on a shared property, speak with a West Palm Beach business litigation lawyer before the dispute gets harder to reverse. The Andrew M. Schwartz Legal Team will review your agreements, explain the realistic options under Florida law, and tell you plainly whether negotiation, mediation, or the courtroom is the better route. Call to schedule a consultation and get a clear picture of where you stand.