Were you injured due to poor security in a NYC building or business? Leitner Warywoda fights for victims of negligent security across NYC and Long Island.
In New York, property owners have a legal duty to provide a reasonably safe environment. When they fail to do so—and someone is assaulted, mugged, or otherwise injured as a result of inadequate security—the consequences can be devastating. At Leitner Warywoda, we represent victims across NYC and Long Island who’ve suffered serious harm due to negligent security in apartment buildings, hotels, parking lots, nightclubs, and more.
Negligent security falls under the broader category of premises liability. It refers to injuries that happen because a property owner failed to take proper steps to prevent foreseeable criminal acts. Common examples include:
If a violent incident could have been prevented with reasonable precautions, the property owner or manager may be held legally responsible.
Our firm handles a wide range of negligent security claims throughout New York City’s five boroughs and Long Island, including:
These cases often involve both criminal and civil elements—and while prosecutors may pursue criminal charges against an attacker, we focus on holding property owners civilly liable for the security failures that allowed the crime to happen.
Negligent security claims require extensive investigation and legal strategy. Proving a property owner’s liability means showing:
At Leitner Warywoda, our attorneys work with investigators, security experts, and medical professionals to build strong cases for our clients. We know what evidence to look for, how to find it, and how to present it to maximize your recovery.
The act provides legal remedies to victims of race-based discrimination, ensuring equal and fair treatment in matters of security.
If you’ve been hurt because of a building owner’s failure to provide basic safety, you may have a valid claim for compensation. Our legal team at Leitner Warywoda is ready to fight for you—just as we’ve fought for countless clients across Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island, and Long Island. We don’t back down, and we don’t get paid unless we win your case.
You tell us what happened. We tell you honestly whether it looks like a case, what the deadlines are, and what we would need to see.
Records, scene evidence, witnesses, and review by qualified experts. Most of what wins a case is gathered before a complaint is ever served.
Depositions, motions and expert disclosure, prepared as though the case will be tried, because defendants offer their best number to firms that are ready to try it.
Settle or try it: that choice is yours, made with a clear picture of the offer, the risk and the timeline.
Slip and fall.
Slip and fall.
Slip and fall on private property.
Slip and fall on private property.
Slip and fall involving a municipality.
Premises liability, private property.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
A negligent security claim seeks compensation from a property owner or manager whose failure to take reasonable safety measures allowed a foreseeable crime to happen. The claim is not against the attacker but against the party that controlled the property. Common examples include broken entrance locks, missing lighting, disabled cameras, or ignoring a history of similar crimes. The injured person generally must show the crime was foreseeable and that reasonable precautions would likely have prevented it.
Yes, in certain circumstances. New York property owners are not insurers of everyone's safety, but they do have a duty to take minimal, reasonable precautions against criminal acts that are foreseeable. Foreseeability usually depends on prior similar incidents at or near the property, known security problems, and the type of business. If the owner ignored that risk and the lapse was a cause of the attack, the owner may be liable even though a third party committed the crime.
Courts generally look at whether the owner knew or should have known of a risk of similar criminal activity. Relevant evidence includes earlier assaults, robberies, or break-ins at the location, police calls, tenant or customer complaints, and security reports. The past crimes do not have to be identical, but they usually need to be reasonably similar and reasonably close in location and time. General crime in the surrounding neighborhood, standing alone, is often not enough.
A successful negligent security claim can include damages for medical expenses, lost wages and reduced earning ability, pain and suffering, and emotional harm such as post-traumatic stress. Future medical care and counseling may also be recoverable when supported by medical evidence. In a fatal attack, family members may pursue a wrongful death claim. The value of any case depends on the injuries, the evidence of the owner's fault, and whether others share responsibility.
Free, confidential review. You pay no fee unless we recover for you.
