Negligent Security Lawyer in Los Angeles

Who is liable for negligent security in California?

The claim is against whoever controlled the property and allowed a known risk to exist, not against the attacker. Depending on the facts, that can include:

• The property owner or landlord of an apartment complex, parking lot, shopping center or other premises.
• A property manager or business operator who ran the site day to day.
• A security company, where one was hired and failed to do what it was hired to do, if it is a different company from the owner.
• A business open to the public, such as a gas station, a store open at night, a hotel or a warehouse.
• A public agency, where the property is publicly owned and a dangerous condition is involved, under Government Code section 835. These claims carry the six month deadline.

If you were attacked while working, there can be two claims: a workers’ compensation claim against your employer, and a separate claim against the property owner or the security company when they are different. The second claim is the one that covers pain and suffering.

How is foreseeability proved?

Foreseeability is proved from records, not impressions, and mostly from what had already happened at that same place. Useful evidence includes:

• Police and 911 calls and police response records for that address.
• Prior incidents on the premises or immediately around them, including earlier robberies or assaults.
• Incident reports and complaints from tenants, customers or staff.
• Security that was advertised and then cut, cameras that had not worked for months, gates propped open and lighting left dark.

When a place builds up calls for violence over months and the owner changes nothing, that pattern is the case. The precautions reviewed are concrete: lighting in parking lots and hallways, locks and gates that work, cameras that are installed and switched on, access control and security staff where the risk of the place justifies it. The law does not demand a fortress, only reasonable action against a known risk.

California follows pure comparative fault, so partial responsibility reduces a recovery rather than barring it. Under Civil Code section 1431.2 each defendant is liable for non-economic damages only in proportion to its fault, so the owner’s own share of responsibility has to be proved with care.

Who pays after an attack on a poorly protected property?

Compensation usually comes from the liability insurance carried by the owner or operator of the property, and sometimes by a security company or a business tenant. A few practical points:

• Each party has its own coverage, so identifying the owner, the manager and any security contractor early matters.
• Health insurance pays treatment as it happens and may later claim reimbursement from any settlement, which is negotiated before you receive a net figure.
• Workers’ compensation applies only if you were working, and it does not replace a claim against the property owner.

What compensation can you recover after an attack?

• Medical expenses, past and future, including surgery, therapy and counseling.
• Lost earnings and loss of future earning capacity.
• Property damage to belongings and vehicles taken or damaged.
• Pain, suffering and emotional distress, and the loss of enjoyment of life.
• Punitive damages under Civil Code section 3294 where a defendant acted with malice, oppression or fraud.
• Wrongful death damages for the family under Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60 when an attack is fatal.

A claim’s value cannot be known before the medical picture is clear, and nothing here predicts a result.

How long do you have to file a negligent security claim in California?

• Two years from the date of injury to file an injury lawsuit, under Code of Civil Procedure section 335.1.
• Three years for property damage only, under Code of Civil Procedure section 338.
• Six months to present a written claim where the property is publicly owned, under Government Code section 911.2. This shorter deadline governs, and missing it usually ends the claim.

Have your date confirmed at the start rather than assuming the two year rule applies. Under Los Angeles Superior Court Local Rule 2.3(a)(1)(A), a case is filed in the judicial district where the incident arose.

How much does a negligent security lawyer cost in Los Angeles?

No fee unless there is a recovery. Broukhim Legal PC takes injury cases on a contingency fee, so there is nothing to pay up front and the fee is paid out of what is recovered. If nothing is recovered, no fee is owed. The fee agreement is put in writing and signed before any work starts, as California law requires (Business and Professions Code section 6147), and the costs of running the case are explained in that same agreement. Your first conversation is free, confidential and carries no obligation.

Personal injury lawyers across Los Angeles County

Broukhim Legal PC represents people hurt on poorly protected property throughout Los Angeles County. Each city page sets out the courthouse an incident in that city is filed in, how a claim against that city is presented and the deadlines that apply:

See all locations we serve, or tell us what happened and where for a free case review.

Meet your Los Angeles negligent security lawyer

Bejan Broukhim, Founder and Lead Attorney
State Bar of California, license number 183036

Bejan Broukhim brings years of California legal experience to injury and mass tort cases and personally reviews each one. He earned his J.D. at the University of West Los Angeles School of Law, served as a judicial extern in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the Van Nuys Superior Court, and appeared in preliminary hearings as a certified law clerk with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Every case is prepared from day one as though it will go to trial.

Office: 550 S Hill Street, Suite 1390, Los Angeles, CA 90013, serving all of Los Angeles County and California. Get directions