Under Florida law, property owners must take reasonable measures to prevent a third party from committing any foreseeable and harmful acts on their premises. If property owners fail to take proper precautions, they may be held liable for any injuries or deaths resulting from their inaction.
Since negligent security cases can be complex, you can benefit from the legal counsel of an experienced attorney at Nessler & Associates. Discover how our lawyers will fight to earn you the maximum possible compensation as we handle your negligent security case.
Common Examples of Negligent Security
Under Florida’s premises liability law, business owners must provide customers, clients, and guests with reasonable precautions against criminal activities. Florida’s negligent security laws cover several establishments offering public services, such as hotels, apartment complexes, and retail stores.
Some common examples of negligent security include:
- Blocked emergency exits
- Defective security equipment
- Inadequate lighting in the business or parking lot
- Failure to provide security personnel
- Failure to properly vet and train security personnel
If these failures lead you to suffer a personal injury or become a victim of a violent crime or sexual assault, turn to Nessler & Associates. Our personal injury lawyers can help you build a personal injury case and hold the negligent property owner accountable.
Winning Your Negligent Security Case
Since defining a reasonable precaution can be complicated, negligent security cases are often more complex than other personal injury cases. To recover compensation, your attorney will have to prove four factors:
The Defendant Had a Duty to Protect the Plaintiff
The first thing your lawyer will have to prove is that the defendant owed a duty to protect you from injury or damage. Businesses in Florida must protect visitors under two circumstances:
The Plaintiff is Categorized as an Invitee
Visitors to an establishment can fall into three classes: invitees, licensees, and trespassers. An invitee is someone who visits another person’s premises by explicit or implied invitation. In Florida, invitees are owed a high duty of care.
Customers are the most common example of an invitee. If you were harmed while visiting a retail establishment, the business owner might be liable for your damages.
Defendant Could Have Reasonably Foreseen the Danger
Even if you are not visiting the business as an invitee, property owners are required to protect all guests from dangers that could have been reasonably foreseen. While this is a broad standard, your lawyer can use evidence to prove that the owner should have foreseen the hazardous circumstances that caused your damages.
For example, an apartment complex has a documented history of home invasions on the premises. However, they fail to install functional locks or reasonable security measures, such as patrolling security guards. If you become the victim of a home invasion on the property, the complex owners or managers may be liable for your damages.
Defendant Breached Their Duty to Protect the Plaintiff
Once your lawyer proves that the defendant had a duty to protect you from danger, they will need to prove that they also breached this duty. In other words, the defendant failed to take reasonable precautions to protect you from harm.
This breach of duty can take many forms, such as a failure to properly light a parking lot or a failure to install and maintain locking systems on the entryways of an apartment complex. Your lawyer will use evidence, such as photos of the premises, to prove this claim.
Defendant’s Breach of Duty Caused the Plaintiff’s Damages
The next step in winning your case will be for your attorney to prove that the defendant’s failure to take reasonable precautions led to your injuries or damages. Your lawyer needs to show that the owner’s negligence directly caused your damages and that you wouldn’t have suffered injuries if the owner had taken the proper precautions.
For example, if you are the victim of a break-in at a hotel and claim that the hotel’s owner improperly maintained their door locks, you will have to prove that this failure was the cause of the break-in that led to your damages.
You Suffered Damages as a Result of the Plaintiff’s Breach of Duty
The final step in proving your negligent security claim is demonstrating that the defendant’s breach of duty caused you to suffer damages. Damages are the negative impact the event had on you, such as injuries, damage to your property, or emotional turmoil. Depending on the nature of the damages, you may use medical reports, receipts, or other documentation to prove your claims.
Negligent Security Lawyers at Nessler & Associates
It can be confusing and traumatic to suffer damages while on another person’s property. The negligent security lawyers at Nessler & Associates have over four decades of courtroom experience handling personal injury cases. We can help you build a robust case to hold negligent property owners responsible for allowing harm to occur.
Unlike other law firms, the Florida lawyers at Nessler & Associates are not afraid to take your claim to court, so you can be confident that you will receive the maximum compensation possible for your claim. To further your peace of mind, we work on a contingency fee arrangement so you have access to legal representation without upfront costs.
If you were the victim of a crime due to negligent security, call Nessler & Associates at (800) 727-8010 to schedule a free consultation.