Florida law recognizes a separate and independent tort for tortious interference with advantageous business relationships. To state a claim for tortious interference with advantageous business relationships, a plaintiff must prove the following elements:

• The existence of a business relationship between the plaintiff and a third party;
  
  

  The defendant's knowledge of that relationship;

  The defendant's intentional and unjustified interference with the relationship; and

  Consequent damage to the plaintiff.

  Although malice is absent from the elements that a plaintiff must prove in order to show tortious interference with a business relationship, the plaintiff nonetheless must prove that the defendant's conduct caused or induced the breach that resulted in the plaintiff's injuries and damages. Therefore, when the plaintiff cannot establish damages, he or she has no cause of action for tortious interference with advantageous business relationship. For example, a buyer of a building who submitted a purchase offer to a second broker after its broker-client relationship with another broker was terminated, the second broker was not liable to the first broker for interference with a business relationship since the first broker, who had an exclusive listing of the building, received its full commission from the owner when the building was sold. Additionally, the plaintiff must establish the proximate causation between the defendant's actions and the plaintiff's damage by demonstrating that the parties' understanding would have been completed but for the defendant's interference.

  A cause of action for tortious interference with advantageous business relationship may have many complex issues. Therefore, you should consult with an experienced West Palm Beach business lawyer. Call Sharmin & Sharmin P.A. at 1-800-74-TRIAL.