If you sustained an injury in a criminal assault or attack, you are probably dealing with a lot right now. You might be facing a painful and difficult recuperation from your physical injuries. Instead of spending time with friends or family, you might be afraid to go anywhere due to crippling fear and anxiety about your safety. If your emotional and physical injuries prevent you from working, your family is probably experiencing severe financial struggles as well.
Thankfully, a dedicated Woodbridge negligent security lawyer can assist you. The team of skilled premises liability attorneys from Fredson Statmore Bitterman, LLC can investigate what happened to you to see if you have grounds to file a civil suit for financial compensation against the people who allowed your criminal attack to take place.
Explaining the Concept of Negligent Security
Under the theory of premises liability law, property owners, landlords, and business owners have a duty to keep their premises in reasonably safe conditions for visitors, customers, and guests. As part of that duty, they need to provide adequate security to prevent criminal acts on their properties. Under certain circumstances, a property owner or someone else in charge of a property could be held liable for the criminal actions of third parties.
In determining whether negligent security contributed to someone’s injuries, a court would look at whether the property owner could have prevented these criminal acts by adding more security to the area. For example, a building owner could be legally responsible for the cost of someone’s injuries that they experienced during a break-in or other criminal act if another building owner would likely have taken more actions to prevent the foreseeable criminal actions.
A skilled Woodbridge negligent security attorney can review the details surrounding an event to help determine whether a viable civil claim exists.
How to Prove Security Is Inadequate
In determining whether a property owner was lax in their security, a court often looks at whether the criminal act was reasonably foreseeable. The court might consider whether other illegal activities have occurred on the property or in the surrounding neighborhood. The court would also look at what steps the property owner took to keep visitors, guests, tenants, or customers safe.
Depending on the area, more security measures are sometimes appropriate. Some of the security measures that a property owner could take to potentially avoid legal liability include:
- Having locks and safety gates
- Having security cameras and alarm systems
- Calling law enforcement to report any suspicious behavior
- Having security guards who monitor entry into the premises
- Providing training to staff on how to protect people
- Having a system in place to escort employees and customers through parking lots to their cars at nighttime
- Having sufficient lighting outside and in the parking lot
- Making sure that all windows and doors have functioning locks and are not broken or easily able to be broken – For instance, windows on the ground floor in heavily trafficked areas should have bars on them to prevent forced entries
A Woodbridge attorney can gather evidence to help support owner negligence in a negligent security case.
Speak With a Woodbridge Negligent Security Attorney
When you experience harm in a criminal act, you might be able to sue the owner of the property where the incident occurred for failing to provide you with sufficient security. The knowledgeable legal team from Fredson Statmore Bitterman, LLC can help you get the money you need to pay for your medical care, lost wages, and other expenses.
Set up a free consultation with a well-versed Woodbridge negligent security lawyer today.
