Negligent Security Attorney Florida

Negligent security lawsuits are brought by people who have been attacked or victimized on someone else’s property. Negligent security claims fall under the umbrella of Premises Liability and can be challenging to prove in court. Generally, private property owners do not have a responsibility to protect those on their property from third party attacks. Therefore, the injured person will only be able to collect damages if the landowner is obligated to some legal duty to them.

This special legal duty may be a result of state laws, city ordinances, relationship of the injured person to the owner of the property, prior criminal acts in the area, advertising claims or contractual provisions. For example, if the injured person is invited onto the property as a social guest or for business reasons, property owners could be expected to take reasonable steps to protect invitees from known or reasonably known dangers on the property. Knowledge of prior crimes on the property or nearby will likely create a duty to warn of the risks of attack. If a criminal attack was foreseeable, property owners are required to take reasonable precautions to protect customers and patrons on the premises.

Premises liability law holds individuals or organizations that own or control property or buildings responsible for maintaining their property in a reasonably safe condition. If there are any dangers present, they are obligated to warn visitors of the hazard. In order to recover damages in a negligent security case, the injured party must prove that a dangerous condition existed on the property; the owner or possessor knew or should have known of the condition; the owner or possessor failed to take reasonable steps to eliminate or reduce the danger; and this failure was the proximate cause of the injury. A dangerous condition exists when something on the property presents an unreasonable risk to people on the property that may not be obvious to them.

When an attack is deemed to have been foreseeable, courts will find that the property owner had a duty to use reasonable measures to protect people on the premises from third-party assaults. Some examples of reasonable measures include installing alarm systems, adequate lighting, security cameras or hiring security guards to make sure that visitors are safe.

Most courts will balance the likelihood of an attack and the potential for danger against the burden imposed on the property owner or manager to prevent the incident with security measures in order to determine liability. If you think you have been a victim of a negligent security situation in Florida, you should contact Attorney Joe McIntyre at FloridaInjuryLawyer.com.