When someone has been attacked or assaulted on a property, they may have a claim against the property owner, landlord, or manager as well as the company hired to provide security on the property.

Security companies have a duty to provide competent, well trained security officers to patrol a property. When a crime occurs in a parking lot, apartment building, dorm, mall, shopping center, university, college, or other commercial area, it often could have been prevented if adequate security was provided by the owner of the property.

Property owners have a duty to protect people from known or reasonably foreseeable risks. A premises liability claim can be made against property owners, managers or landlords when they fail to meet this duty. As a part of the same case, claims can also be made against security companies who have failed to provide adequate security in the area where the crime occurred.

Property owners and security companies may be liable in a civil case when a crime occurs on a property:

   + Malls
   + Shopping centers
   + Apartment buildings
   + Bars
   + Hospitals
   + College and university campuses
   + High school campuses
   + Junior high campuses
   + Gas stations
   + Convenience stores
   + Fast food restaurants
   + Hotels and motels
   + Parking lots
   + Parking garages
   + Dorm rooms
   + Other properties



Tenants of apartment buildings, guests at hotels and motels, customers of malls, shopping centers, bars, restaurants, convenience stores, or someone who is simply walking to their car in a parking lot or parking garage may be able to make a claim for negligent security. Additionally, students at colleges and universities who are the victims of a criminal attack may be able to make a claim against the college or university for failing to provide adequate security.


If you, a family member, or a friend has been the victim of a crime, contact Rist Law Offices for a free confidential consultation. We are sensitive to the issues that are being faced by crime victims and will take the time to thoroughly discuss every aspect of the case. We do not charge anything for discussing the case and all facts will be kept confidential. We accept all crime victim cases on a contingency fee basis, which means that we do not charge a fee until your case is settled or won in court.