Gainesville Negligent Security Lawyer

Gainesville Negligent Security Lawyer

If you suffered a violent or criminal attack in Gainesville while at a restaurant, store, or rental property that did not provide enough security, you may not realize that the landowner could be held liable.

If you were a victim of a reasonably foreseeable crime, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries. The experienced Gainesville negligent security lawyers at Allen Law Firm, P.A. can help you fight to maximize your financial settlement or award.

If you aren’t sure what to do after being the victim of a violent or criminal attack because the property owner did not provide security, we can help you figure out how to move forward. We help accident and injury victims every day. We are Gainesville’s negligent security lawyers. 

Contact our law offices today or call at (877) 255-3652 to get started with a free consultation and learn more about how we can help.

How Our Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help You With Your Negligent Security Case

How Our Personal Injury Lawyers Can Help You With Your Negligent Security Case

If you were the victim of a violent crime because a land or business owner failed to provide security, you may not even realize how a Gainesville personal injury attorney can help.

At Allen Law Firm, we will evaluate your case for free. We want to hear your story.

You can tell us what happened and we can help you determine whether you may be entitled to compensation. 

You can expect us to be responsive. Contact the Allen Law Firm 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We are ready for your call, email, or live-chat inquiry. 

You can also expect us to take your case seriously. There are no minor cases at the Allen Law Firm. We give each client’s case our full attention and put effort into the small details. 

We encourage you to ask us questions in your first consultation. We want to give you the answers to reassure you that we can handle your case with care. 

If you hire us to represent you, some of the things you can expect us to do include:

  • Move quickly to find and obtain evidence in support of your negligent security claim;
  • Provide compassion and support for you in this traumatic time; 
  • Help you understand what damages you may be able to recover; and
  • Work together with local, regional, or national experts who will help prove your case.

We start every case with a thought to how our clients will feel about us in the end. We take pride in earning our client’s satisfaction.

We will calculate the compensation owed to you, file your legal claim on time, deliver the best presentation of your case, and stand by you throughout the process

What is a Negligent Security Claim?

What is a Negligent Security Claim?

Like the laws of many other U.S. states, Florida law recognizes a claim against a landowner when a person suffers a violent or criminal attack on the landowner’s property because of lax security.

This kind of claim is called a negligent security claim, which falls under the umbrella of premises liability law. Landowners must protect people who come onto their property. This duty of security extends to protection from reasonably foreseeable criminal acts if the landowner has actual or constructive knowledge of the danger.

This means that owners of apartment complexes, restaurants, and certain stores have to provide a level of security that ensures the safety of customers or visitors to their premises. 

The landowner’s duty is higher if the risk of crime is reasonably foreseeable. 

The foreseeability of a crime depends on: 

  • Whether and how often a certain type of crime occurs 
  • Whether a certain type of crime is has occurred nearby in the past
  • Whether other types of crimes have occurred nearby in the past.

If a property is in a high-crime area, landowners must provide security of a level that reasonably ensures the safety of visitors on the property. 

Some kinds of cases involving negligent security include: 

  • Shootings, robberies, and sexual batteries at apartments or hotels; 
  • Stabbings, shootings, and batteries at restaurants; 
  • Robbery, assault, and battery in the parking lot of big box stores. 

Not all of these incidents will automatically give rise to a negligent security claim. They are simply examples of claims that injured parties have made in the past. 

Florida’s Convenience Business Security Act covers businesses that are open between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. and are engaged primarily in the sale of groceries or both groceries and gasoline. 

These businesses have minimum security standards. They are required to provide specific safety training to their employees, maintain a lighted parking lot, and have a security camera. If certain kinds of crimes have occurred at that business, they have heightened security requirements under the law. 

The Importance of an Investigation In Your Negligent Security Case

Investigation of a negligent security case is different from most other personal injury cases

Our Gainesville premises liability attorneys will conduct a proper investigation that could include: 

  • Getting crime maps or crime location data for the premises and the neighborhood
  • Reviewing calls to law enforcement and police reports that list the physical address of the property where you were injured
  • Researching past incidents or dangerous conditions near the property
  • Obtaining any documents held by the landowner or business about prior criminal acts or incidents on the premises
  • Investigating whether the business or any corporate office made recommendations about security at the location where you were injured
  • Determining whether the employees had any security training
  • Examining whether security equipment has been properly maintained 

It is important to know whether a property had security cameras, working lights, and security guards or trained employees on the premises to prevent danger to customers. We can gather all the evidence that will support your negligent security claim. 

Sometimes, the evidence you need to prove your case is easily available or made public, like crime maps. If the crime maps show that robbery or assault occurs frequently in the area surrounding the premises, and the landowner failed to provide proper security, you may have a strong negligent security claim. 

Other times, the evidence you need may be in the control of the business or landowner. In these situations, you need an experienced attorney who knows how to get the evidence. 

If you were injured due to an unsafe condition because a landowner failed to provide proper security, your next step should be to contact a reputable negligent security law attorney. At Allen Law Firm, we take pride in our winning characteristics: hard work, discipline, preparation, and toughness. 

Common Injuries Resulting From Negligent Security

When a person is desperate enough to turn to criminal activity, the injuries that may happen to their victims are countless. 

In a violent robbery, you may sustain: 

You might even have internal injuries. Older people, pregnant women, and people with physical impairments may be more susceptible to serious injury

If you were attacked in a residential or hotel setting, your injuries may be sensitive in nature.

Unfortunately, some negligent security claims involve sexual assault

What Damages Are Available in North Central Florida Negligent Security Claims?

When you have a loss or injuries, you can recover money to compensate you for your damages. Compensation for injuries sustained as a result of negligent security include: 

If a loved one suffered fatal injuries, you may have a claim for compensation for their wrongful death

How Long After an Attack Do I Have to File a Negligent Security Lawsuit in Gainesville, FL?

Within a certain time after the incident, an injured party must file their lawsuit. The deadline for filing a lawsuit after an incident is called the statute of limitations. Even though you have the right to use, if you do not sue on or before the end of the statute of limitations, you could lose your right to recover compensation forever. For “general negligence” claims, Florida recently adjusted its statute of limitations. If your negligent security incident occurred on or before March 23rd, 2023, you will have four years to submit your lawsuit. If your incident took place after that date, you will have two years to do so instead.

Like with most rules, there may be exceptions to the statute of limitations. Whether there is any such exception in your case depends on its specific facts. If you have been injured because of inadequate security, it is in your best interest to contact the premises liability lawyers at Allen Law Firm. 

Contact Our Gainesville Negligent Security Lawyers Today for a Free Case Evaluation

If you have been the victim of negligent security at a business, contact Allen Law Firm today. Our negligent security lawyers in Gainesville, Florida are ready and waiting to get to work for you. Give us a call at (877) 255-3652.

Our personal injury law firm in Gainesville, FL also provides: