Reno Negligent Security Lawyer

Nestled in the northwest corner of Nevada, just over 20 miles from the popular Lake Tahoe, Reno has long been a much-coveted place to reside. The city, which has a population of just a quarter of a million that reside within city limits, attracts tourists from all over who flock to the area for casinos, museums, skiing, parks, the foodie culture, and more.

While many Reno residents and visitors enjoy their time spent hitting up local attractions in our city, there are a select few whose lives are forever changed by an experience. Others leave with a bad taste in their mouths or simply don’t make it out of here alive. Why is that? It has to do with property owners and the security personnel they hire not doing an adequate job of keeping them safe from harm.

Here at the Law Office of Matthew L. Sharp, we’re often the firm victims turn to when they’ve been hurt in senseless incidents that would have likely never have happened had it not been for someone turning a blind eye or dropping the ball on their responsibilities. Our clients come to us seeking help, and after meeting with our Reno negligent security lawyer, they are convinced they’ve found the right person who will tirelessly advocate for them to ensure those who breached their duty of care are held accountable for what they did. We are interested in scheduling a free consultation with you to review your case and share how we can help.

Where Do Negligent Security Incidents Occur in Reno?

Situations or premises that are rendered unsafe because their owner or its employee like security personnel don’t do their job to keep it safe are endless. Negligent security cases our law firm has handled have taken place at all types of venues throughout Reno, including:

• Sports fields and arenas
• Casinos and their nightclubs
• Apartment complexes and within homeowners associations (HOAs)
• Shopping centers or malls
• Concert venues
• Office buildings or other workplaces
• Medical centers or hospitals
• Religious centers
• Schools
• Recreational facilities

You name the place, and it could potentially be on this list. Everywhere has vulnerabilities, and Nevada law places the onus on property owners to take reasonable measures to ensure their visitors are safe in many instances.

Why Do Negligent Security Issues Occur?

In each of these cases above, someone suffered harm or prematurely died because a property owner didn’t heed warning signs of vulnerabilities and failed to eliminate them by implementing some of the following security measures:

• Fencing off their property to keep potential bad actors (like would-be criminals) out
• Changing the locks on a unit’s doors before re-renting it to others or promptly fixing them if broken
• Installing surveillance cameras
• Hiring adequately-trained security guards and supervising them to ensure they were consistently performing their job
• Adequately screening staff members, residents, or visitors to ensure they don’t have dangerous backgrounds and are properly licensed for a given job, etc.
• Screening individuals for potential weapons before entering a place of business

What Adverse Outcomes Are Attributable to Negligent Security?

A wide range of traumatic events can stem from there being either no or ineffective security, including violent acts such as:

• A sexual assault or rape
• Kidnapping
• Carjacking
• Physical assault
• Robbery
• Shooting
• Stabbing

When Can I Hold Someone Liable?

A common question we receive at the Law Office of Matthew L. Sharp is when a person who’s been harmed due to suspected poor security issues can hold someone else responsible for their negligent actions (or perhaps inactions). It boils down to a few different factors, with perhaps the most important being whether a prospective defendant had some type of duty of care they owed to the plaintiff (victim).

Nevada Negligent Security Claim Requirements

Anyone harmed at the hands of another in Nevada is entitled to file an insurance claim or civil lawsuit provided they can show:

• Another party owed them a duty of care (to ensure their safety)
• That the negligent person or entity breached their duty of care
• They would not have suffered any injuries, or a loved one would not have lost their life had it not been for the breach of duty that occurred
• The victim or surviving family members sustained damages as a result of the potential defendant’s negligence

The key element that defines many negligent security situations is that there’s some degree of foreseeable risk. Scenarios in which property or business owners and their employees don’t adequately respond to threats, warnings, or warn their customers of foreseeable dangers leave someone vulnerable to getting hurt or dying and them getting sued for it.

Potential Compensation from a Negligent Security Case

In personal injury cases, like inadequate security ones, a victim (the plaintiff) can sue for damages, such as the following, that they incur:

• Economic damages: Losses like these may include current and future medical expenses, lost wages, property damage costs, or funeral and burial costs (if a wrongful death occurs).
• Non-economic damages: These are the often-invisible losses stemming from an accident and may include demands for compensation for pain and suffering, a loss of enjoyment of life, companionship, or consortium, disfigurement, mental anguish or emotional distress, and more.

Should a case go to trial, judges may additionally impose punitive damages per Nevada Revised Statute 42.005. This state law allows the Court to do so in cases where laxed or nonexistent security situations exemplified gross negligence or maliciousness. The aim in forcing a defendant to pay punitive damages in these situations is to discourage them and anyone considering carrying out similar actions from doing so.

Don’t Delay Filing a Nevada Negligent Security Case

There’s a 2-year statute of limitations that applies to almost every negligent security case in Nevada. You generally lose your right to file suit and, thus, collect compensation for any losses you sustained if you don’t file within this time period.

Our experience at the Law Office of Matthew L. Sharp is that time often moves much faster than victims realize as they get caught up in recovering from their catastrophic injuries or dealing with grief. They sometimes lose track of the fact that time is running out on them to file a claim to recover a much-needed settlement to pay off their incident-related debts like medical bills or replenish the savings they had to live on due to lost income.

Don’t squander your right to recover compensation from the person or negligent parties that did badly by you. Contact our law firm to schedule a free case review so you can discuss your legal matter with an experienced Reno negligent security lawyer who can let you know how to move forward in holding all appropriate parties accountable for their actions.