Negligent Security Attorney San Jose
Property owners in San Jose should be concerned about the safety of innocent people on their premises. At the very least, they should be concerned about the possibility of a lawsuit if they fail to provide adequate security. If these individuals cannot provide adequate security out of a sense of moral obligation, they should do so because it is a smart decision from a legal and financial perspective. When property owners in San Jose do not ensure the safety of people on their premises, they leave themselves open to a negligent security lawsuit. If you have suffered injuries due to a criminal attack of some kind while on someone else’s property, you can take legal action against them.
Thanks to a negligent security claim, you can recover compensation for your damages. These damages might include extensive medical expenses due to your injuries. Your injuries may also prevent you from going to work, resulting in weeks, months, or even years of missed wages. Trying to pay for your medical expenses while also missing work is almost impossible, which is why it is important to file your negligent security lawsuit as soon as possible. On top of these financial burdens, a criminal act can result in serious non-economic damages. These include various aspects of pain and suffering, such as psychological trauma, PTSD, and much more. Your settlement can also provide you with compensation for these damages.
If you are serious about taking legal action against a property owner who has failed to provide adequate security, you need to enlist the help of a qualified, experienced attorney. No lawsuit is ever simple, and you need assistance from a legal professional if you want to give yourself the best possible chance of a positive legal outcome. Work with our experienced attorneys to best navigate this often complex legal process. It always makes sense to connect with a lawyer who has dealt with cases involving negligent security in the past.
What Does Negligent Security Look Like?
Negligent security can take many different forms. The classic example is a bar or a nightclub in San Jose that fails to hire adequate security. A fight may break out, and you may be caught in the middle of the altercation. Bottles start flying, punches are thrown, and you are left with serious injuries. Throughout the entire incident, you might have been wondering why no one was stepping in to put an end to the fight. Perhaps the property owners and security staff simply watched and did nothing to intervene. Maybe there was no security staff on hand whatsoever.
In this situation, you could realistically claim that the property owner was negligent for not hiring adequate security personnel. You could argue that if there were responsible, well-trained “bouncers” present, the fight would have been broken up quickly. You might even argue that these professional security staff members would have spotted potential troublemakers and thrown them out of the bar before even a single punch was thrown.
The same scenario can play out in virtually any other establishment or property. These include nightclubs, concert venues, retail stores, malls, and so on. Even government agencies can be sued for negligent security. For example, public transit companies can fail to provide adequate security for busses and trains, resulting in people being mugged at bus stops or in underground train stations.
But can you file a security negligence lawsuit against a tenant or the owner of a home you were visiting? This is where things get a little trickier. As an average citizen, a homeowner or a tenant is not really expected to hire security staff. No reasonable person would expect to be protected by security staff if they visit someone else’s house for dinner or a party. However, you may be able to sue the entities responsible for an actual apartment building, such as a strata corporation. For example, you may be able to argue that the apartment building should have provided better security in the underground parking lot if you are assaulted there.
When Can I File a Security Negligence Lawsuit?
You can only file a security negligence lawsuit if you have been harmed in some way. You cannot take legal action just because you felt unsafe and you believe that an establishment has hired inadequate security staff. In order to file a lawsuit, you must suffer legitimate damages. These damages usually take the form of injuries, although the definition of “injuries” in this case can be expanded to include things like rape or sexual assault. Psychological trauma can also be defined as an injury.
Certain criminal acts, such as robberies, can also result in financial losses. For example, a criminal might steal your jewelry at gunpoint while you are trying to make your way to your vehicle at a mall parking lot. All of these damages can be recovered after filing a lawsuit against the property owner.
A common criminal act that can result from inadequate security is assault. But virtually any other violent crime can also form the basis of a negligent security lawsuit. These include rape, sexual assault, robbery, and kidnapping. In addition, murder can form the basis of a negligent security claim. In this situation, the surviving family members would sue the property owner on behalf of their deceased relative via a wrongful death claim.
How Do I Prove That Security was Inadequate?
In many ways, the concept of inadequate security is slightly subjective. One person might believe that a property owner did not hire enough security staff members at an establishment, while another person might actually feel that there were too many security professionals present. So how do you actually prove that a property owner was at fault?
The keyword here is “reasonable care.” In order to be successful, the plaintiff must show that the property owner did not act in a “reasonable” manner. In this situation, the court compares the actions of the property owner to the actions of a “reasonable” person. Although this reasonable individual does not actually exist, the court can assume that a normal property owner would have acted in a specific way.
For example, a reasonable property owner would hire security staff if they became aware of criminal activities in and around their establishment. A reasonable property owner would also warn members of the public about past criminal activities that occurred on their property. This might take the form of a sign posted in a parking lot.
Your attorney will need to prove a number of things. First of all, they will need to show that the property owner was aware (or should have been aware) of the risk posed by potential criminal activities on the property. For example, your attorney might find evidence of past assaults on the property. This long string of incidents can prove that the property owner was aware of the risks, and yet they did nothing to strengthen their security systems in order to prevent further criminal acts.
If the property owner has failed to report or record these past incidents, your attorney can use police reports as evidence. For example, the police might have been called to the property a number of times over the past year to deal with assaults and robberies. These police reports can show that the property was clearly unsafe, and that the owner should have foreseen the possibility of further security breaches.
Your attorney also needs to show a direct connection between the lack of security and your injury. In other words, you need to prove that if there had been adequate security, your injury would not have occurred. Some criminal acts may be extremely sophisticated, and so the property owner could not be realistically expected to prevent them. A handful of security guards with tasers cannot really be expected to protect a politician who is kidnapped from a hotel by a well-armed, highly-trained militia group.
Enlist the Help of a Qualified Attorney Today
If you have been searching the San Jose area for a qualified, experienced attorney who has experience with negligent security lawsuits, look no further than Mary Alexander & Associates. Book your consultation today, and we can begin the process of holding property owners accountable for the damages they have caused you. We are passionate about fighting for the rights of innocent injury victims, and we have helped countless individuals recover considerable settlements in the past.
Negligent security lawsuits often involve serious, traumatic injuries that go far beyond a simple slip and fall. There is a shocking, disturbing element involved when you are assaulted and harmed by a criminal, and healing from these injuries can be difficult. Even when the physical scars of your assault fade away, the psychological impact of the incident can linger indefinitely. With our help, you can seek the justice you are entitled to, and you can move on with your life with an adequate settlement for your damages. Book your consultation today.
