Miami Business Torts Lawyer
A tort is basically any civil wrong that causes an injury and for which the law provides a remedy. In the business world, torts most often arise in disputes between competing businesses outside of a contractual relationship or harm to a customer, client or consumer that does not arise from a breach of contract.
Business tort litigation often involves complex questions of liability (fault) and appropriate remedies, including both money damages and injunctions. Miami business tort attorney Joshua R. Alhalel has years of experience handling complex commercial litigation at large and mid-sized law firms. At Alhalel Law, Mr. Alhalel is able to devote more personal attention to his clients and their needs. If you are a plaintiff or defendant in civil litigation or find yourself on either side of a business tort dispute in Miami, Alhalel Law can help.
Business Tort Remedies
In tort claims, remedies can be legal or equitable. Legal remedies are most often in the form of money damages, while equitable remedies often involve some form of an injunction.
Damages
Money damages available in a business tort claim include actual damages suffered by the plaintiff, such as lost profits, lost business opportunities, damage to a business relationship, or reputational damage, as well as attorney’s fees, costs and punitive damages in authorized cases.
Injunctions
Plaintiffs can seek injunctions from the court ordering the defendant to stop doing something or refrain from engaging in a particular form of conduct. Injunctions can also require a defendant to take actions such as publishing a correction or retraction or being bound to the terms of an offer. By seeking emergency or preliminary injunctions in appropriate cases, plaintiffs don’t have to wait for the conclusion of a trial or settlement to see relief.
Alhalel Law represents plaintiffs and defendants in the full range of business torts, including all of the following:
Breach of Fiduciary Duty
Parties should always act in good faith and fair dealing toward others, but sometimes a special relationship exists that creates a higher duty. In a fiduciary relationship, one party is bound to act with the utmost good faith for the benefit of the other. Fiduciary duties include avoiding conflicts of interests and self-dealing and maintaining loyalty. For example, attorneys, financial advisors and trustees have fiduciary duties to their clients and beneficiaries. Fiduciaries can be liable for a breach of fiduciary duty and any financial loss to the beneficiary that flows from that breach.
Fraud and Unfair Competition
The Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA) prohibits “unfair methods of competition, unconscionable acts or practice, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce.” Likewise, the federal Fair Trade Commission Act (FTCA) prohibits “unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce.” Fraud can be more broadly defined as an intentional misrepresentation of fact or causing harm by failing to disclose a material fact.
Laws like FDUPTA and FCTA not only protect consumers from deceptive trade practices but also protect honest businesses from the fraudulent acts of unscrupulous competitors. Alhalel Law represents parties in business tort disputes based on allegations of unfair competition, fraud or unfair or deceptive practices.
Professional Negligence
It’s not just doctors who can be sued for malpractice but also a wide spectrum of other professionals, including attorneys, engineers, architects, accountants, auditors, and many others. Malpractice or professional negligence occurs when the professional fails to practice with the skill and competence expected of a member of the profession, and that failure causes injury to the client.
Professional negligence cases are complex. They often require the use of an expert witness from the profession who can testify both that malpractice occurred and that it was the cause of the claimed injury. Plaintiffs and defendants might each need their own experts to testify to a judge or jury in a compelling manner, guided by a skilled trial lawyer.
To recover damages, these cases also often require trying the underlying matter – the “case within the case” – to prove that the outcome would or would not have been different in the absence of malpractice. As a skilled trial lawyer experienced in complex civil litigation prosecution and defense, Joshua Alhalel is equipped to handle all aspects of a professional negligence case.
Tortious Interference
Tortious interference with business or contractual relations occurs when a third party interferes with another’s business relationship. Examples include inducing a party to breach a contract, convincing one party not to do business with another party, or keeping a party from fulfilling its contractual duties with another. Parties guilty of tortious interference can be liable for the significant economic harm they have caused the damaged party.
Miami Business Torts Attorney Looking Out for Your Interests
For help protecting your rights and achieving your goals in a Miami business tort dispute, call Alhalel Law at 305-563-9060 for practical advice, strategic planning, and zealous advocacy from the negotiating table to the courtroom.
