Ongoing Legal Support for Business Owners in Florida

If you need ongoing legal support for business owners in Florida, a retainer gives you one firm for the legal questions your business keeps raising. Instead of hiring a lawyer for each problem, you get continuing outside general counsel. KEW Legal serves owners, co-owners, and investors in Miami-Dade, Broward County, and South Florida. This page explains what that covers, how it works, and when it may fit your business.

What an Ongoing Legal Support Retainer Is and Who It Fits

An ongoing legal support retainer is continuing outside general counsel for a business. The firm handles recurring legal questions over time, not one matter that ends and closes the file.

A one-time matter starts with one problem and ends when that problem is resolved. A retainer stays in place as your business changes, so the same firm already knows your setup when a new question comes up.

It fits owners and co-owners of Florida businesses, and investors who hold commercial or investment property. It may fit a business that:

• gets repeated contract or vendor questions
• has a supplier or customer that pays late or disputes an invoice
• has owners who disagree about money, direction, or control
• faces a lease renewal, a tenant problem, or a landlord problem
• has employee questions, from hiring to discipline to termination
• is planning a sale, purchase, or ownership transfer

Early questions usually leave more options open. Waiting until a dispute is filed often narrows them.

What the Retainer Covers

The retainer covers the practice areas KEW Legal focuses on.

• Contracts and vendor disputes. Some oral agreements can be enforced in Florida, but statutes of frauds and other rules limit which oral deals a court will enforce. Review terms early. For one vendor question, see withholding payment from a vendor in Florida.
• Partnership disputes. Under Fla. Stat. § 620.8401, a majority of partners can decide ordinary business matters. Acts outside the ordinary course, and changes to the partnership agreement, need every partner’s consent. A Florida LLC must also keep a current list of its members and managers at its principal office or another location, under Fla. Stat. § 605.0410. For early steps, see mediation before suing a business partner.
• Employment for employers. Florida generally treats employment as at-will, but contracts and statutes create exceptions that limit when an employer may end employment. A worker still cannot be fired for a reason the law prohibits, such as retaliation. For agency charges, see responding to a Florida Commission on Human Relations charge.
• Commercial leases and evictions. Part I of Chapter 83 applies to nonresidential tenancies and all tenancies not governed by part II of this chapter, under Fla. Stat. § 83.001. KEW Legal handles commercial evictions for owners who live abroad.
• Acquisitions, sales, and succession. Guidance through buying, selling, and passing on a business, including ownership transitions.
• Investment property. Legal questions for owners of commercial and investment property.
• Outside general counsel. Day-to-day questions and document review in one place.

How the Engagement Works, Step by Step

The engagement moves from a first consultation to an agreed scope, then to ongoing work and check-ins.

1. First consultation. You describe the business, its open matters, and what you expect next.
2. Review. The firm looks at your current situation, open matters, and the questions you expect to face.
3. Agree on scope. You and the firm set which areas are covered and how requests and communication will work.
4. Ongoing work. Advice and document work across the covered areas, with a clear path to move a matter into a dispute, lease action, or transaction.
5. Check-ins. Periodic reviews as the business changes, such as new hires, new vendors, new leases, or a change in ownership.

Each step builds on the last, so the file stays current. Bring your contracts, your lease, or the email chain that started the problem. If a matter falls outside these practice areas, the firm may refer it to another lawyer or firm.

Why Business Owners Work With KEW Legal

KEW Legal is a Florida business law firm with offices in Coral Gables and Sunny Isles Beach.

Kristina E. Wilson, who is responsible for this page, and Natalie Martinez are among the firm’s lawyers. Our team focuses on business law, including contracts, partnership issues, employment, leases, and business transactions.

A retainer keeps related questions connected. A lease renewal can touch the business’s contracts, its employees, and the owners’ agreement at the same time. One firm handling those areas lets the same file follow the business from a vendor question to a lease renewal to a sale.

The firm serves business owners and investors across Miami-Dade, Broward County, and South Florida. Ask at your first consultation how the firm would work with your business.

Cost and Common Concerns

The first consultation is free, confidential, and without obligation to continue.

Sharing complete, accurate facts early gives counsel what it needs to advise you well. The firm treats what you share in the consultation as confidential.

How much ongoing work a business needs depends on the facts, including how many open matters it has and how much work you request.

If you have one isolated issue, the firm can handle it as a single matter instead of an ongoing retainer. Owners often ask about time, cost, and control. Ask at the consultation how scope and communication will work for your business.

Frequently Asked Questions

Talk With KEW Legal About Your Business

A partner who has gone quiet, a vendor who won’t settle an invoice, a tenant who won’t leave, or an employee problem can land on an owner’s desk with no warning. You don’t have to sort out the legal side alone while the business keeps running.

Call 305-990-2300 or send us a message to schedule a consultation. Kristina E. Wilson is responsible for this page. KEW Legal has offices in Coral Gables and Sunny Isles Beach.