Everyone expects the owner or manager to guarantee their safety when visiting a premises or property. It could be at a gas station, parking lot, grocery store, hotel, nightclub, or residential apartments, among other areas.
Because property managers and owners have a legal duty of care toward visitors, tenants, and other parties legally on their premises, they must account for their safety. This means taking necessary security measures to avert the occurrence of foreseeable harm stemming from muggings, stabbings, assaults, or attacks.
While criminal activities can happen anywhere, owners of properties or businesses situated in areas with a high risk or history of crime have an obligation to safeguard the lives and properties on their premises.
Failure to implement industry-standard safety measures can result in security breaches, endangering many people’s well-being. If you were a victim of assault or attack on someone’s property, it is likely that the duty of care was not observed.
Our Pasadena premises liability lawyers can help review the circumstances of your incident to establish liability. This is a focal point in filing a negligent security claim for compensation.
What Is Negligent Security?
As mentioned, property owners and managers are obligated to safeguard the well-being of everyone on their premises. They must continuously conduct risk assessments to identify hazards that could stem from security loopholes.
For example, broken doors and fences should be replaced or repaired to limit access, especially by unauthorized persons and intruders.
Therefore, negligent security refers to a scenario where the necessary and reasonable precautions guarantee safety on premises are not undertaken. This could result in loss of property, injuries, or loss of life.
Common examples of negligent security include insufficient lighting in dark areas, such as basement parking lots, broken gates or locks, malfunctioning security systems such as alarms and CCTV cameras, a lack of well-trained personnel, and a lack of security protocols. A personal injury lawyer in Pasadena can help identify the areas where your duty of care was breached.
For a free legal consultation with a negligent security lawyer serving Pasadena, call (832) 449-8230
Liability in Negligent Security Claims
Negligent security claims are built on negligence, like other personal injury cases. Property owners and managers are presumed to know more about the specific security threats on their premises than visitors do.
This makes absolute sense because they often track cases of theft, muggings, assault, and general crime in their areas. Therefore, they have to protect you from all foreseeable harm.
Understanding how liability works in negligent security cases is paramount, especially when pursuing compensation. Liability transfers the financial responsibility for your losses to the party directly responsible for the circumstances that caused your injuries and losses.
To establish fault, your negligent security attorney must demonstrate the following concepts of negligence:
- You were owed a legal duty of care as per state and federal laws
- The duty of care was breached
- The breach directly caused your injuries and losses
- You suffered tangible and intangible losses
From these concepts, you can identify one or more parties to hold financially responsible for your losses. It may be the property owner, premises manager, security companies, or manufacturers of security systems for product liability.
You may still be eligible for compensation if you were partially at fault for the incident or harm suffered. Texas laws allow personal injury victims to recover compensation for injuries even if they are partially at fault. However, the degree of their fault must be at most 50%.
Our resourceful Pasadena negligent security professionals can assist in apportioning fault in a negligent security case involving multiple parties.
Pasadena Negligent Security Lawyer Near Me (832) 449-8230
Damages a Negligent Security Lawyer in Pasadena Can Help You Seek
The recoverable damages in a negligent security claim vary. They depend on the circumstances of the incident and the extent of harm suffered. Generally speaking, there are three major types of damages you could pursue in an injury claim.
Economic damages have a specific monetary value and usually compensate for tangible losses such as past and future medical expenses, loss of property, lost wages, lost future income, therapy, and rehabilitation expenses, and other out-of-pocket costs related to the incident.
You also qualify to claim compensation for non-economic damages. These losses are intangible and often require financial experts to quantify. They cover loss of consortium, loss of companionship, physical pain and suffering, emotional trauma, and diminished quality of life, among other things.
Lastly, you may qualify for punitive damages. While they don’t make you whole again, punitive damages can maximize your compensation. Additionally, you can only be eligible if your case goes to a trial.
Our trial-experienced Pasadena negligent security attorneys have what it takes to ensure you get the most out of your case through settlement with insurance companies or a court process.
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Our Pasadena negligent security lawyers can review the details of your case for free. Call our firm right away to schedule a meeting with our team. We are here to help.
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