Negligent security attorneys who stand with you.
Being attacked, robbed, or assaulted on someone else's property is a trauma that changes everything. The physical injuries are often severe. The emotional aftermath can be lasting. And underneath it all is the knowledge that basic precautions could have prevented it.
At Gold & Gold, P.A., we represent victims of violent crimes that happened because a property owner failed to provide the security they were obligated to maintain. Apartment complexes, hotels, parking structures, retail centers, nightclubs, and hospitals all have a duty to protect the people on their premises from foreseeable criminal harm.
For over forty years, our trial team has held negligent property owners accountable, investigating prior crime patterns, challenging inadequate security decisions, and taking these cases to verdict when that is what our clients deserve. A $4.5 million settlement for a parking lot shooting victim and a $2.66 million verdict for the family of a burglary victim, recognized as one of the largest verdicts ever awarded in Clay County, Florida, reflect the results this approach produces.
Why legal support matters after a violent crime on someone's property.
Negligent security cases are complex. Property owners and their insurers will argue the crime was unforeseeable, that adequate measures were in place, and that criminal acts break the chain of liability. An experienced trial attorney knows how to dismantle those defenses:
Investigating the property's prior crime history to establish foreseeability
Obtaining security contracts, incident logs, and surveillance records
Identifying every responsible party, owner, manager, and security contractor
Retaining security experts to evaluate what precautions should have been taken
Handling all communication with insurers and defense teams
Documenting the full scope of your physical and psychological injuries
Taking your case to verdict when the property owner refuses to accept responsibility
The case turns on what the owner knew was coming.
Foreseeability, the cornerstone of every negligent security claim.
Florida law requires property owners to protect visitors from foreseeable criminal acts. Foreseeability is established through prior incidents on or near the property, police reports, prior calls for service, incident logs, and community crime data that show the owner knew or should have known their premises were at risk. When owners receive that warning and do nothing, leaving broken locks unfixed, lights burned out, and security posts unstaffed, they are legally responsible for the harm that follows. Florida's statute of limitations gives you two years from the date of the incident to file. Call us now.
Negligent security cases happen in predictable places.
Violent crimes on private property are rarely random. They happen in locations where criminal activity is foreseeable, and where owners have failed to act on that knowledge.
We handle negligent security claims arising from:
Apartment complexes and residential communities, broken gate locks, inoperative entry systems, burned-out exterior lighting, and security patrols that exist only on paper are among the most common failures we see.
Hotels and resorts, inadequate door hardware, unmonitored corridors, unsecured parking areas, and failure to warn guests of known crime in the vicinity.
Parking lots and garages, poor lighting, absent attendants, broken access controls, and no security cameras in structures where assaults and carjackings are foreseeable.
Retail and entertainment venues, understaffed or untrained security personnel at bars, nightclubs, shopping centers, and concert venues where crowds and alcohol make violence foreseeable.
Hospitals and healthcare facilities, inadequate access controls in emergency departments and patient areas that allow assaults on staff and visitors.
Schools and universities, failure to maintain secure perimeters and respond to known threats affecting students and staff.
Negligent security cases are won on what the owner knew and ignored.
We take a methodical approach to building the record that proves the property owner had both the duty and the opportunity to prevent the harm:
Establish the crime history
We pull police reports, prior incident logs, and community crime data to prove the owner knew, or should have known, that criminal activity was a real and foreseeable risk on their property.
Document the security failures
Broken locks, inadequate lighting, absent or unqualified security personnel, missing surveillance cameras, and ignored prior incidents, we catalogue every failure against the standard of care the property required.
Retain security and liability experts
We work with security professionals who can testify precisely what precautions a reasonable owner in that location would have had in place, and how their absence enabled the crime.
Capture the full scope of your harm
Physical injuries, psychological trauma, PTSD, lost wages, and the long-term cost of recovery, documented completely, so the jury understands what the property owner's negligence cost you.
Negligent security victims can recover far more than medical bills.
- Emergency and ongoing medical treatment
- Psychiatric care and counseling
- Lost wages and reduced earning capacity
- Future medical and therapy costs
- Security and relocation expenses
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress and PTSD
- Permanent physical or psychological injury
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of consortium for affected family members
In cases involving reckless indifference, such as owners who ignored repeated warnings, covered up prior incidents, or deliberately cut security to reduce costs, we pursue punitive damages to punish the conduct and protect others from the same fate.
The window to build your case closes fast.
Surveillance footage gets overwritten, often within 30 to 72 hours. Security contracts are revised. Incident logs go missing. Property owners and their insurers begin building their defense the moment they learn of a claim.
Florida law gives you two years from the date of the incident to file a negligent security lawsuit, but the investigation must begin now. Prior crime reports, witness accounts, and physical evidence deteriorate quickly. The sooner you contact us, the more of that record we can preserve.
We handle negligent security cases on a contingency basis. You owe us nothing unless we win.
A record built case by case.
A selection of verdicts and settlements from this area of our practice. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome, every case is decided on its own facts.