Business and contract disputes
Unpaid invoices, broken supply deals, non-competes, and contracts the two sides read differently.
Most business lawsuits are about a document: a contract, a purchase order, an email chain that turned into a deal. We start by reading that document the way a judge will, then tell you plainly what it likely means for your claim or your defense.
We represent companies and their owners on both sides, bringing claims and defending them, in county and circuit court, in federal court, and in arbitration when the contract calls for it.
Business cases we take on
Breach of contract
Supply, service, distribution and licensing agreements that one side stopped honoring.
Unpaid accounts
Invoices, personal guaranties and promissory notes, and the defenses to them.
Non-competes and trade secrets
Enforcing or defending restrictive covenants when an employee or a partner leaves.
Deal-related fraud
Misrepresentation, interference and deceptive-practice claims that grew out of a transaction.
Two business matters, briefly
Count the notice days.
Distribution agreement · Jacksonville
A beverage maker cut off a distributor without the 90 days' notice the agreement required. The arbitrator awarded our client, the distributor, $72,000 in lost margin.
Guaranties have limits.
Personal guaranty · Fort Myers
A lender sued a restaurant owner on her guaranty for the full loan. The guaranty capped her exposure at $50,000, and the claim settled for $31,000.
Sample matters that show the kind of dispute we take and how we work it. Every case turns on its own facts, and past results don't guarantee a similar outcome.
Business dispute questions
We got a demand letter. Do we have to answer it?
Not always, but don't ignore it. A short, careful reply can head off a lawsuit or preserve a defense; a hasty one can admit facts you'd rather argue. Send it to us before anyone responds.
Our contract says arbitration. Can we still go to court?
Usually not for the claims the clause covers, though there are exceptions. We read the clause, tell you which forum applies, and handle the case in either one.
Can we get our attorney's fees back?
Only if a contract or a statute allows it. Many commercial contracts have a fee clause for the side that wins, which changes the math for both sides.
Send us the short version first
Tell us who the other side is and what went wrong. We check for conflicts, then a lawyer calls and asks for the contract.