Partnership Dispute
Partnership Dispute Lawyer Fort Lauderdale
Business partnerships are built on trust, shared vision, and mutual commitment. When that foundation breaks down — through a partner's breach of fiduciary duty, misappropriation of business assets, exclusion from management, disagreement over the direction of the company, or outright fraud — the legal, financial, and personal consequences can be severe. Partnership disputes are among the most contentious and high-stakes forms of business litigation, precisely because they involve both significant economic interests and deeply personal relationships that have often been built over years or decades.
If you are a business owner, LLC member, or corporate shareholder facing a dispute with a co-owner in Fort Lauderdale or South Florida, The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC provides experienced, aggressive partnership dispute representation designed to protect your interests and enforce your rights under Florida law. Managing Attorney Richard P. Corey is a three-time Super Lawyers Rising Stars recipient in civil litigation and business law — a distinction awarded to fewer than 2.5% of attorneys in Florida — and brings both deep legal experience and the perspective of a serial entrepreneur who understands the real-world stakes of business ownership disputes. Whether your goal is to resolve the dispute and preserve the business, buy out a departing partner, or pursue judicial dissolution of a broken partnership, we build the legal strategy to achieve your specific objective.
Contact The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC at (954) 789-0461 or legal@rcenterpriselaw.com to schedule a consultation with a Fort Lauderdale partnership dispute attorney today.
What Is a Partnership Dispute?
A partnership dispute is any legal conflict that arises between co-owners of a business — whether that business is structured as a general partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company (LLC), or closely held corporation. The term "partnership dispute" is used broadly to describe a wide range of conflicts between business co-owners, including disagreements over management authority, profit distributions, capital contributions, fiduciary duties, the interpretation or enforcement of governing documents, and the appropriate grounds and process for dissolving or restructuring the business relationship.
Partnership disputes in Florida are governed by a layered legal framework that includes the Florida Revised Uniform Partnership Act (Chapter 620), the Florida Revised Limited Liability Company Act (Chapter 605), the Florida Business Corporation Act (Chapter 607), and the specific terms of the parties' governing documents — whether a partnership agreement, an LLC operating agreement, or a shareholders' agreement. These governing documents define each owner's rights, obligations, and remedies, and their interpretation is often at the center of the dispute. Florida courts also impose common law fiduciary duties on partners, LLC members and managers, and corporate officers and directors — duties that exist independently of what any written agreement says and that can give rise to significant legal liability when breached.
Partnership disputes are frequently complex, emotionally charged, and economically consequential. They require an attorney who understands both the substantive law governing business ownership relationships and the strategic litigation considerations unique to disputes between co-owners of a going concern — where the wrong legal move can damage or destroy the very business both parties are fighting over.
Partnership Dispute Legal Services in Fort Lauderdale and South Florida
The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC represents business owners in the full range of partnership and co-ownership disputes throughout Fort Lauderdale and South Florida, including:
Breach of Fiduciary Duty
Partners, LLC members and managers, and corporate officers and directors owe fiduciary duties to one another and to the business — including the duty of loyalty, the duty of care, and the duty to act in good faith and in the best interests of the business. When a co-owner breaches these duties — by self-dealing, diverting business opportunities to a competing enterprise, misappropriating company funds, making unauthorized decisions, or acting in their own interest at the expense of the business — the injured party has the right to pursue legal action for breach of fiduciary duty.
Breach of fiduciary duty claims in partnership and LLC disputes frequently involve complex factual investigations — tracing financial transactions, reviewing corporate records, analyzing email and communication records, and working with forensic accountants to quantify the economic harm caused by the offending partner's conduct. The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC pursues these claims with the investigative rigor and evidentiary precision that high-stakes breach of fiduciary duty litigation demands.
Business Divorce and Buyout Disputes
When a business partnership reaches an irreconcilable breakdown, the parties must separate their interests — either through a voluntary buyout negotiation or, when agreement cannot be reached, through litigation seeking court-ordered relief. Business divorce disputes frequently involve contentious valuation questions: what is each owner's interest actually worth? How is goodwill valued? What adjustments are required for a partner's misconduct or unauthorized withdrawals? What are the tax implications of the proposed buyout structure?
The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC represents business owners on both sides of buyout disputes — those seeking to purchase a departing partner's interest and those seeking fair value for their own interest in a forced sale. We work with business valuation experts, forensic accountants, and tax advisors to ensure our clients' economic interests are protected throughout the buyout process, and we litigate aggressively when the other side refuses to negotiate in good faith.
Oppression of Minority Owners
Minority owners — those holding less than a controlling interest in an LLC, partnership, or closely held corporation — are particularly vulnerable to oppression by majority co-owners who control day-to-day management. Minority oppression can take many forms: exclusion from management, freezing out of distributions, manipulation of compensation and benefits to force a buyout at a depressed price, dilution of the minority owner's interest through unauthorized issuance of new equity, or denial of access to financial records and business information.
Florida law provides minority owners with meaningful legal protections against oppression. Under Chapter 605, LLC members have the right to access the company's books and records. Under Chapter 607, minority shareholders in closely held corporations may seek judicial dissolution on grounds of oppression. The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC represents minority business owners throughout Fort Lauderdale and South Florida who are being squeezed out, frozen out, or otherwise oppressed by majority co-owners — and we pursue every available legal remedy to enforce their rights and recover the full value of their ownership interest.
Disputes Over Partnership and Operating Agreements
The governing documents of a business — the partnership agreement, LLC operating agreement, or shareholders' agreement — define the rules of the relationship. When co-owners disagree about what those documents mean, how they should be applied, or whether certain actions taken by one party comply with or violate their terms, a formal legal dispute arises over the interpretation and enforcement of the governing documents themselves.
These disputes frequently involve complex questions of contract interpretation, the interaction between the governing documents and Florida's default statutory rules, and the scope of each owner's authority to act on behalf of the business. The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC has extensive experience litigating operating agreement and partnership agreement disputes in Florida — analyzing governing documents with precision, identifying the strongest available interpretive arguments, and enforcing our clients' contractual rights through the courts when informal resolution fails.
Misappropriation of Business Assets and Funds
One of the most common — and most damaging — forms of partner misconduct is the misappropriation of business assets or funds for personal benefit. This can range from outright embezzlement of company cash to the unauthorized use of business credit accounts, the diversion of client relationships and revenue to a competing business, the taking of business property or intellectual property, or the payment of unauthorized compensation and distributions. These acts may give rise to both civil claims for conversion, breach of fiduciary duty, and unjust enrichment, and in egregious cases may constitute criminal conduct under Florida law.
The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC pursues misappropriation claims with urgency — including emergency injunctive relief to freeze assets and prevent further dissipation, targeted discovery to trace and document the full scope of the misconduct, and aggressive damages litigation to recover everything that was taken, plus attorney's fees where available.
Emergency Injunctive Relief in Partnership Disputes
Partnership disputes frequently require immediate legal action to prevent irreparable harm while the underlying litigation proceeds. A partner who discovers that their co-owner is actively diverting funds, destroying records, soliciting the company's clients for a competing business, or making unauthorized transfers of business assets cannot wait months for a trial on the merits — the damage will be done long before the case is resolved.
The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC has direct experience with emergency injunctive relief practice in Florida courts, including obtaining temporary restraining orders (TROs) and preliminary injunctions in partnership and business disputes. We move fast, prepare the necessary evidentiary submissions with precision, and make the legal showing required to obtain emergency relief that protects our clients' interests while the case proceeds.
Judicial Dissolution of a Partnership or LLC
When a partnership or LLC is deadlocked, when those in control are acting fraudulently or illegally, or when the business can no longer carry out its stated purposes, Florida law provides a mechanism for court-ordered dissolution. Under Florida Statute § 605.0702, a court may order the dissolution of an LLC when it is not reasonably practicable to carry on the business in conformity with the operating agreement, or when those in control of the company are acting illegally, fraudulently, or in a manner that is oppressive and directly harmful to the applicant. For general partnerships under Chapter 620, dissolution may be ordered when a partner's conduct makes it not reasonably practicable to carry on the business in partnership with that partner.
Judicial dissolution is a significant and consequential remedy — one that permanently terminates the business relationship and triggers the winding-up process. The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC both pursues judicial dissolution on behalf of owners who have no viable alternative and defends against dissolution actions brought by co-owners seeking to destroy a viable business for strategic or personal reasons.
Florida Laws Governing Partnership Disputes
Florida's partnership and business ownership dispute framework is governed by several key statutes that define the rights and remedies available to business co-owners.
Florida Revised Uniform Partnership Act — Chapter 620
Chapter 620 governs general partnerships and limited partnerships in Florida. It establishes the fiduciary duties owed by partners to one another and to the partnership, defines each partner's right to an accounting and access to partnership records, and provides the framework for dissolution and winding up of the partnership when the relationship breaks down. Under Chapter 620, partners owe each other a duty of loyalty — including the duty to account for any benefit derived from conducting partnership business, the duty not to deal with the partnership as an adverse party, and the duty not to compete with the partnership.
Florida Revised Limited Liability Company Act — Chapter 605
Chapter 605 governs the formation, operation, and dissolution of Florida LLCs. It establishes the fiduciary duties of managers and managing members, defines members' rights to information and financial accountings, and provides the grounds and procedure for judicial dissolution under § 605.0702. Chapter 605 also defines the default rules that govern the LLC relationship in the absence of a contrary provision in the operating agreement — making the operating agreement's specific language critical in every LLC dispute.
Florida Business Corporation Act — Chapter 607
Chapter 607 governs Florida corporations and establishes the fiduciary duties of officers and directors, the rights of shareholders in closely held corporations, the grounds for shareholder derivative actions, and the procedure for judicial dissolution of a corporation when shareholder deadlock or misconduct renders continued operation impracticable.
Florida Statute § 57.105 — Attorney's Fees for Frivolous Claims
In partnership disputes where one party is pursuing claims or defenses that have no basis in law or fact, Florida Statute § 57.105 authorizes the court to award attorney's fees against the party and their counsel. The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC evaluates § 57.105 exposure at the outset of every partnership dispute — both as a sword against bad-faith co-owners who manufacture claims to gain leverage and as a shield against frivolous litigation filed to coerce a favorable settlement.
How Our Fort Lauderdale Partnership Dispute Lawyers Fight for You
Partnership disputes are not just legal conflicts — they are business crises. The decisions made in the first days and weeks of a partnership dispute, before litigation formally begins, frequently determine the outcome of the entire matter. Evidence is preserved or lost. Emergency relief is sought or foregone. The narrative of the dispute is established or ceded to the other side. Acting quickly, strategically, and with full command of the legal and factual landscape is essential.
The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC approaches every partnership dispute with the urgency and strategic discipline these high-stakes matters demand. We begin with a thorough analysis of the governing documents, the applicable Florida statutes, and the specific facts of the dispute — identifying every available legal theory, every potential remedy, and every potential vulnerability in our client's position. We conduct early, targeted discovery to establish the factual record before evidence can be altered or destroyed. We evaluate the need for emergency injunctive relief at the outset and move immediately when the circumstances require it. And we prepare every case for trial from day one — because the credibility of a trial threat is what drives meaningful settlement negotiations in partnership disputes.
Richard P. Corey has been featured in USA Today, Yahoo News, and Influencive, is a TEDx Ocala 2025 speaker, and is a Member of the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States and admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. As a serial entrepreneur himself, he brings a business owner's understanding of what is at stake in partnership disputes — not just the legal claims, but the enterprise, the relationships, and the future.
Why Choose The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC as Your Partnership Dispute Lawyer in Fort Lauderdale?
Partnership disputes require an attorney who combines deep civil litigation experience, command of Florida business law, and a practical understanding of how businesses actually operate — and what it takes to protect them when co-owner relationships collapse. Richard P. Corey brings all three.
Recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star in civil litigation and business law for three consecutive years — a distinction awarded to fewer than 2.5% of Florida attorneys — Richard has the courtroom experience and business law knowledge that high-stakes partnership disputes demand. Our firm is boutique by design. Every partnership dispute client works directly with Richard — not a paralegal or junior associate — and receives the focused, senior-level attention that these consequential matters require.
We represent business owners throughout Fort Lauderdale, Broward County, Miami-Dade County, and Palm Beach County in partnership disputes of all sizes — from two-person LLCs to multi-member operating companies with complex governance structures and substantial assets. Whether your goal is to resolve the dispute, buy out your partner, enforce your rights as a minority owner, or pursue dissolution of a broken business relationship, we build the strategy to get there.
Serving Partnership Dispute Clients Throughout South Florida
The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC represents clients in partnership disputes throughout:
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Fort Lauderdale
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Broward County
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Miami
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Miami-Dade County
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Boca Raton
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West Palm Beach
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Palm Beach County
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Pompano Beach
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Hollywood
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Coral Springs
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Plantation
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Davie
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Deerfield Beach
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Weston
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All of South Florida
We handle partnership dispute matters in Florida state courts statewide and in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Schedule a Consultation With a Fort Lauderdale Partnership Dispute Lawyer
If you are facing a partnership dispute in Fort Lauderdale or South Florida, do not wait to seek legal counsel. The actions taken — and not taken — in the early stages of a partnership dispute can determine the outcome of the entire matter. Contact The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC today to schedule a consultation with an experienced Florida partnership dispute attorney.
The Law Offices of Richard Corey, PLLC
915 Middle River Drive, Suite 408
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33304
Phone: (954) 789-0461
Email: legal@rcenterpriselaw.com
Website: rcenterpriselaw.com
Related Practice Areas
Partnership disputes arise at the intersection of business ownership and litigation — making comprehensive civil litigation representation essential. Our civil litigation attorneys handle the full spectrum of commercial disputes throughout South Florida, including complex multi-party business conflicts. When a partnership dispute involves underlying contractual failures, our breach of contract practice provides the focused contract enforcement representation your matter demands. For business owners seeking to restructure or properly document their ownership relationships going forward, our business law attorneys provide the transactional counsel to build a stronger foundation.