Inadequate Security

If you are the victim of an assault, your first thought may be to blame the person who attacked you. But a careless property owner may share the responsibility for the harm that you suffered. You may have the right to hold the owner accountable through filing a negligence claim, with which the Law Offices of Robert Dixon can assist you. Our dedicated Miami inadequate securitys are available to discuss your legal options with you and advise you on how to seek compensation. We represent clients throughout South Florida, including in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade Counties.

Violent crimes unfortunately are widespread in Florida and throughout the United States. Nearly seven million Americans were victims of assaults or similar offenses during 2012, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice. These crimes often happened on property not owned by the victim, such as restaurants, hotels, apartment complexes, or parking lots.

People who own property must keep it in reasonably safe condition for others who use or can be expected to use it. Any dangerous condition of which the owner knows or should know must be fixed, or a warning of it must be provided. Otherwise, people legally on the property who are injured by the dangerous condition may file a negligence claim against the property owner. To succeed in this lawsuit, the victim must show that the property owner had a duty of reasonable care, breached this duty, and caused the victim’s injury through the breach.

Owners of businesses such as restaurants and hotels must protect patrons from known or reasonably foreseeable risks, including the risk of a violent crime such as an assault. For example, a pattern of incidents in a poorly lighted parking lot outside a restaurant should put the restaurant owner on notice that measures must be taken to improve the parking lot’s security. Failure to take action might be considered a breach of the owner’s duty to keep the property in reasonably safe condition and could expose the owner to liability in a negligence lawsuit.

Inadequate lighting is just one example of a security risk on the property of a business that could endanger guests. Other examples include inadequate locks, poorly repaired fences, malfunctioning or absent security cameras, a lack of properly trained security staff, or an absence of proper procedures to follow in an emergency.

If a victim of an assault succeeds in an inadequate security lawsuit, a broad range of damages may be available. These may extend from objective, economic harms such as medical expenses and lost wages to more subjective, non-economic injuries such as pain and suffering. In some cases, punitive damages also may be available from defendants who acted with extreme recklessness. It is essential to consult an experienced premises liability attorney early in the process because you have only a limited time after the accident to file a claim.

An assault can be a traumatic event that may require a long time to heal emotionally and physically. The recovery process can be exacerbated by the stress of paying hospital bills or missing time from work. If you are in this situation, however, you should not need to worry about those issues. Instead, you should contact the Miami inadequate security attorneys at the Law Offices of Robert Dixon to pursue reimbursement from the negligent property owner responsible for your injuries. Call 877.499.4878 or fill out our online form to set up a free initial consultation in which we can evaluate the details of your case.