BUSINESS LITIGATION AND BUSINESS LAW

Welcome. Cavendish Partners, P.A. is the Jacksonville, FL law practice of Michael Cavendish. Cavendish is a commercial litigation lawyer listed in Best Lawyers in America and rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell.

Jacksonville, FL and Beyond. This law firm works in federal and state courts, in northeast Florida and beyond. We are known for results and for client satisfaction in the resolution of complex lawsuits.

Our clients. Our firm goes to court for companies, both very large and very small, as well as for entrepreneurs, executives, shareholders, investors, and local governments.

Our clients are nearby, and also in every corner of the United States. We work closely with referring attorney colleagues. We serve as valued local counsel in the Middle District of Florida. We measure our longest referring attorney relations in decades.

Our reputation. We are known for low volume and high quality legal work product. The reported legal opinions featuring Michael Cavendish as lead counsel and professional writings by Michael Cavendish have been cited in court cases across the U.S., in leading law reviews, in the authoritative compilations of statutes known as United States Code Annotated and Florida Statutes Annotated, and in leading practice guides such as Wright & Miller on procedure, Moore’s Federal Practice, and Domke on arbitration.

Whether the source of law governing a client’s matter is an established common law principle, or the latest legislatively-adopted statute, such as the Uniform Protected Series Act for limited liability companies, our track record of analytical insight and thoughtful issue management gives our clients confidence in our advice.

Our approach. Regardless of what type of legal client you are, regardless of how commonplace or unique your particular legal issue seems, our aim, our purpose, is representing you in a manner that works to solve, rather than multiply, the set of problems composing your legal matter.

When you need representation in a challenging lawsuit, or careful legal advice, find out how Cavendish partners with you.

WHAT WE DO

Cavendish Partners, P.A. is listed each year in the peer-reviewed Best Law Firms in America and Michael Cavendish is listed in the peer-reviewed Best Lawyers in America, in each of our primary practices:

Commercial Litigation

Banking and Finance Litigation

Real Estate Litigation

WHO WE REPRESENT

Our roster of active clients includes individuals, manufacturers, finance companies, banks, real estate investors, inventors, family trusts, IT companies, non-profits, municipal and county governments, and well-known corporate giants.

ABOUT MICHAEL CAVENDISH

Michael Cavendish has practiced law in downtown Jacksonville since 1998.

He is named annually to the U.S. News listing of the "Best Lawyers in America." Since the launch of his firm, Cavendish Partners, P.A., U.S. News has awarded the firm the Best Law Firms in America designation every year.

For more than two decades, Michael’s clients have included corporations ranging in size from Fortune 100 market leaders to closely-held family businesses, private individuals, state agencies, and municipal bodies.

Michael’s legal work has yielded verifiable results in claims based in contract, fraud, improper asset transfer, business interference, intellectual property and trade secret infringement, land and title disputes, corporation and company governance, and the investigation of corporate malfeasance.

He is the winner of two awards from The Florida Bar.

He holds an AV-Preeminent designation from Martindale- Hubbell, and he currently serves as a Master in the St. Augustine Inn of Court.

Michael is a graduate of the University of Florida College of Law, and received his bachelor's degree from Florida State University, majoring in Anthropology.

SERVICE AREAS AT CAVENDISH

Business Torts and Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Contests

Commercial Litigation

Corporation, LLC, and Partnership Disputes

Creditor-Side Bankrupcty Representation

Defense of Certiorari Challenges to Government

Financial Services and Banking Disputes

IRS Liability-Based FACTA | FBar | Crypto

Lender-Side Commercial Foreclosure

Real Property Rights and Real Estate Title Disputes

Shareholder, Member, Director, and Officer Fraud and Theft Claims

Trade Secret and Non-Disclosure Covenants Litigation

Trust Disputes Involving Claims of Asset Handling and Reporting

RECENT CLIENT RESULTS

Defense of real property partition action - settlement without partition for Defendant owner

Defense of certiorari action challenging county legislative resolution - Judgment for Respondent county government

Prosecution of eminent domain proceeding - settlement for Petitioner

Prosecution of insurance agency negligence claim - settlement for Plaintiff

Commercial foreclosure for Plaintiff-Lender

Petition for dismissal of fraudulent Chapter 11 Bankruptcy - dismissal favoring Petitioner

Defense of unfair lending practices claim - dismissal for Defendant

Defense of products liability claim - settlement for Defendant

Enforcement of covenant not to compete - Judgment for Employer

Defense of contract to develop real property - Judgment for Defendant

Prosecution of veil-piercing and fraudulent transfer claim alleging corporate theft - settlement for Plaintiff

Enforcement of asset purchase agreement - settlement for Plaintiff

Enforcement of trade secret rights - Judgment for Plaintiff

Defense of environmental indemnity contract - Judgment for Defendant

Enforcement of aviation services software contract - settlement for Plaintiff

Enforcement of financial product indemnity contract - Judgment for Plaintiff

Defense of first right of refusal contract to sell commercial real estate - settlement for Defendant

Defense of trade secret rights - Judgment for Defendant

Internal Investigation - alleged corporate fraud in insurance claim handling

Internal Investigation - alleged improper practices in environmental liability reporting

Internal Investigation - alleged improper management actions by executive supervising employees

LAWSUITS, TRIALS, and APPEALS

This law firm primarily begins working with a client at or before the start of a civil lawsuit. We are asked to represent clients in civil lawsuits throughout Florida, and have recently appeared for clients in Florida’s Circuit, or trial-level, state courts, from Miami to Pensacola, and on both of Florida’s coasts. We are typically engaged to handle lawsuits in Northeast Florida, including Duval, Nassau, and St. Johns County state courts, and in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, in the Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa divisions.

When a client requires an appeal or is named as the respondent in an appellate proceeding, we often work with specialized appellate litigation attorneys with whom we maintain a professional referring relationship. In certain circumstances, if we have handled the trial level proceeding, or if we can advise a client that we are equally qualified to handle a particular appeal, we accept appellate counsel engagements at a client’s request.

BUSINESS AND COMMERCIAL LITIGATION

Michael Cavendish has been a full-time commercial litigator in Jacksonville, FL since 1999. He has successfully obtained results for clients in business and corporation governance (corporation, limited partnership, LLC, voluntary association and non-profit business entities), in private contracting disputes at the Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 levels, in business tort claims (fraud, interference with business interests, in injunction and non-competition lawsuits, in intellectual property claims (trademark infringement, trade secret appropriation), in business insurance coverage lawsuits, in franchising, in sale of goods and services disputes, in software licensing lawsuits, in suits against government agencies, as well as in disputes focused on special areas of industry, from power-tool manufacturing to the secondary mortgage market. Whether a new business dispute will feature litigation in public courts, in arbitration, before mediators, or through appellate proceedings, Mr. Cavendish has done the work necessary, with success, in prior engagements, and provides sought-after counsel and guidance to clients facing these kinds of civil legal disputes.

REAL ESTATE LITIGATION

Since the firm’s founding in 2017, owners of real property and investors have chosen Cavendish for significant real estate litigation. Our areas of service to the real estate markets in Northeast Florida and beyond have included breach of purchase agreement matters, commercial foreclosure, community association bylaw disputes, easement disputes, mineral rights, partition demands and defenses of partition claims, Planned Unit Development claims, submerged land controversies, quieting title and removing clouds, and private owner defense of wetlands regulation.

REPRESENTING FLORIDA LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ON CERTIORARI

In matters of first- and second-tier certiorari review of decisions by agencies of local government, including city and county commissions, planning and zoning boards, and code enforcement boards, our firm represents Florida local governments—the public side of the certiorari challenge, exclusively.

We work with City and County Attorneys, City Managers, and local government administrative personnel, upon request, to counsel on the effective legal defense of certiorari challenges (and local code-based or statutory appeals to a circuit court), and we defend petitions for certiorari before Florida Circuit Courts and District Courts of Appeal.

Many of our firm’s successful engagements in defending local government against certiorari challenges have turned on our long experience in litigating matters of title, zoning, easement, land use, or riparian rights on behalf of Florida local governments. Effective certiorari practice depends on familiarity with private property law and the public-facing law of state and local government, combined with a nuanced understanding of standard of review and the permissible scope for certiorari actions.

In our certiorari practice, our firm has represented Florida local government agencies against petitioners ranging from large publicly-traded corporations to mid-market development and construction firms to individual landowners.

TRUST LITIGATION

Our firm represents trustees and beneficiaries in trust litigation involving claims of asset or distribution mismanagement and reporting. Many trust lawsuits focused on a trust’s assets and liabilities to beneficiaries share substantial bodies of legal authority with commercial and business law, and the firm has successfully represented various types of trust stakeholders, including the defense of trustees, trustee removal, and claims by trusts expressed into civil lawsuits for damages and into estate proceedings. Moreso than many types of lawsuits, trust litigation can require exceptionally careful planning and briefing of the issues, things which clients have come to expect from our firm while handling their important trust contests.

RECENT NEWS

Cavendish Partners Re-Awarded "Best Law Firm in America" by U.S. News

November 3, 2025, New York, NY. Cavendish Partners, P.A. is has been re-awarded the “Best Law Firm in America” designation by U.S. News.

U.S. News has ranked the firm “Tier 1” in the market subspecialty of real estate litigation, and “Tier 3” in the commercial litigation, and banking and financing litigation subspecialties.

U.S. News is recognized as the leading, authoritative source of ratings and rankings information for U.S. law firms, hospitals, physicians, and other major institutions and professions. Cavendish Partners, P.A. has won this recognition every year since the firm’s 2017 launch.

Cavendish Wins for Complex Trust at Trial, Appeal, and Post-Trial

February 28, 2023, Jacksonville, FL. Cavendish Partners, P.A. brought a multi-year lawsuit to a successful conclusion, representing a complex family trust, by winning on all contested issues raised by parties attempting to dissolve the trust and seize trust assets; the firm prevailed at summary judgment, on appeal, and in post-appeal continued attempts at litigation.

Business Tort and Trade Secret Claims Involving Cryptocurrency Defeated

February 1, 2023, Tampa, FL. Cavendish Partners, P.A. joined with a coalition of legal counsel to defend the officers, directors, and shareholders of a $100MM technology sector startup against a federal lawsuit commenced by a rival accusing the defendants of misappropriation of trade secrets involving cryptocurrency technology, and illegal competition. The lawsuit against the Cavendish Firm clients was dismissed with prejudice.

Cavendish Recovers RICO Claim Funds

January 15, 2023, Orlando, FL. Cavendish Partners, P.A. successfully recovered on behalf of a client a sum exceeding $500,000, by pursuing a Civil RICO remedy against two business groups accused of illegal competition, aiding and abetting breaches of fiduciary duties, and Civil RICO violations, resulting in a favorable cash-based settlement.

MICHAEL CAVENDISH - BIO

Michael Cavendish practices law in the field of commercial litigation. His services for clients each year involve lawsuits and trial advocacy, out-of-court counseling and contracting, and conducting or defending investigations for private organizational clients.

Michael's litigation practice is concentrated in corporate law disputes, banking and commercial finance disputes, complex real property disputes, consumer class action and privacy disputes, IT and IP centered disputes, and complex contract, business tort and business unfair trade practices lawsuits.

Michael is listed annually in U.S. News' Best Lawyers in America in three areas of practice: commercial litigation, banking and finance litigation, and real estate litigation.

He has been A.V. rated by Martindale Hubbell since 2005, and is currently rated A.V. / Preeminent.

In addition to appearing in federal and state courts for clients in Northeast Florida, Michael has successfully represented clients requesting his counsel statewide in Florida, and also in lawsuits situated in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Charlotte, Columbia, Indianapolis, Omaha, New Orleans, Dallas, Houston, Milwaukee and Los Angeles.

Michael’s lead counsel results creating caselaw have been authoritatively cited in the Alabama Law Review, the Belmont Law Review, the Boston College Law Review, the BYU Law Review, the California Law Review, the Connecticut Law Review, the Georgetown Law Journal, the Harvard Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Law Review, the Missouri Law Review, the St. Louis University Law Journal, the Syracuse Law Review, the UCLA Law Review, the Washington University Jurisprudence Review, and in the practice guide Modern Jury Instructions.

Michael’s professional writing on substantive legal topics has been cited in the the American Review of International Arbitration, the Banking Law Journal, the University of Chicago Law Review, the Chicago-Kent Journal of Intellectual Property, the Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, the Minnesota Law Review, the Oklahoma Law Review, the University of Pittsburgh Law Review, the Tennessee Business Law Journal, the Texas Journal of Intellectual Property, and in dozens of reference guides, published major research annotations, and professional journals concerning Florida law.

Prior to opening Cavendish Partners in 2017, Michael spent his career practicing law with the Jacksonville, FL offices of three fine law firms: McGuireWoods, LLP, Gunster, Yoakley and Stewart, P.A., and Boyd & Jenerette, P.A.

Michael has served as a board member, committee member, or officer for the following organizations: American Bar Association, The Florida Bar, Jacksonville Bar Association, Jacksonville Regional Chamber of Commerce, Jacksonville Transportation Authority, Museum of Contemporary Art - Jacksonville, Florida Humanities Council, Riverside Presbyterian Church, and Community Connections of Jacksonville.

OLDER NEWS

In 2020 Michael Cavendish and colleagues from the office of the City Attorney of the City of St. Augustine prevailed in a multi-year lawsuit concerning alleged private development rights pertaining to a major commercial development in the City’s historic quarter.

In 2019 with the release of the new legal opinion of Florida’s First District Court of Appeal in Managed Care of North America, Inc. v. Florida Healthy Kids Corporation, No. 1D16-5700 (Fla. 1st DCA March 20, 2019), Michael Cavendish and co-counsel colleagues obtained an appellate victory protecting the proprietary trade secrets of their client, a leading Florida health benefits provider.

In 2011 Michael Cavendish served a year as Chair of a commission created by the Florida Legislature in SB 2470, the Northeast Florida Regional Transportation Study Commission.

In 2007 Michael Cavendish delivered an appellate court victory for his pro bono client, the Petitioner in Goebert v. Lee County, FL, No. 06-10606 (U.S.C.A. 11th Circuit 2007). The Goebert appellate opinion established a new constitutional law standard for the procedure for enforcing the rights of prisoners denied medical treatment.

In 2006 Michael Cavendish was featured in the October 2nd edition of BusinessWeek discussing recent trial court work on mortgage repurchase obligations in the secondary mortgage market in the news story "Bad Blood Over Bad Loans."

OFFICE LOCATION

IN DOWNTOWN JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA

200 West Forsyth Street, Suite 1300, Jacksonville, FL 32202

HOW TO CONTACT US

To contact us to request a consultation, please use one of the following methods:

Email Telephone

mcavendish@cavpartners.com (904) 515-5110

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