Maison Law represents injury victims from negligent security incidents in California. Many of these incidents happen at stores like Target. They have the responsibility of keeping you safe while you’re there, but that doesn’t always happen, which for a company like Target is inexcusable. Our California negligent security lawyers can help you hold them accountable. Contact us today for a free consultation.
How Can Our Lawyers Help You?
There’s a lot that can happen to you at Target when they don’t take care of your security. Some of these aren’t surprising, while other things can happen that you might not expect.
In legal terms, this all falls under a personal injury claim. At the same time, the incident may result in just minor injuries. If that’s the case, you probably don’t need to worry about going through the legal process for remedies. However, negligent security incidents can frequently lead to serious issues. And at that point, our experienced negligent security lawyers can be a huge help to you. Here’s what we can do:
- Looking into what happened and why.
- Helping you gather important proof and paperwork.
- Finding out who’s responsible.
- Getting a value on your claim.
- Assisting with any insurance problems.
- Explaining what will happen in the legal process.
- Making the overall process easier for you and your family.
Ultimately, you have control of the process. You get to decide how you want to move forward. If you decide to fully explore your legal rights by filing an injury claim, our team will be there to support you.
Claims Process in These Incidents
After the incident and your injuries, you have a few options for trying to recover. Legally speaking, what you’ll probably want to do is file an injury claim. This means entering the formal legal process, either through an insurance claim or a personal injury lawsuit.
At that point, the process will follow a general outline:
- Initial consultation – You’ll start with a free discussion with our team. We’ll go over what happened, your injuries, and any evidence you have. We’ll assess your chances of success, explain your rights, and discuss your options.
- Filing your claim – If you decide to proceed, we’ll help you present your case to the responsible party’s insurance carrier. If they agree to a fair settlement, the case will be over. If not, we can file a formal Complaint and go to court.
- Exchanging evidence – Both sides gather evidence to support their arguments, known as “discovery.” This includes requesting documents, obtaining witness statements, and asking questions. Our team supports your case and scrutinizes the evidence presented by the other side.
- Negotiation – Many cases reach an end by negotiating before going to trial. Our team engages in discussions with the opposing party or their insurance to reach a fair resolution. If negotiations fail, we may attempt mediation, where a neutral mediator helps both sides reach an agreement.
- Trial – If no agreement is reached, the case proceeds to trial before a judge and jury. We present our case, and the judge or jury determines liability and the amount of damages to be awarded to you.
Damages in negligent security cases aim to give you financial support for the harm you’ve suffered. Overall, though, your damages will depend on factors like the incident’s circumstances, severity of injuries, emotional impact, liable parties, and your percentage of fault.
Potential recoverable damages in these claims usually include:
- Medical expenses
- Lost income
- Property damage
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Loss of companionship
- Scarring or disfigurement
- Punitive damages in certain cases
Target’s Liability
A big question you’ll have to answer in these cases is the extent of Target’s liability. While the store’s management has a general duty to keep you and other customers safe while you’re shopping there, the specific circumstances of what happened to you is important. Also, there’s a few other things to consider
- Whether you were at Target legally (not trespassing)
- The overall condition of the Target and its surrounding property
- Target’s awareness of potential issues
For example, if you’re trespassing, Target’s responsibility to ensure your safety is reduced. However, if you’re assaulted in an area of the store with inadequate lighting or robbed in a part of the store where there’s no functioning security cameras, Target’s management and the company itself could be held responsible (especially if they knew about it.)
However, there might be other parties who could also be responsible, such as:
- Target employees
- Other customers
- Contractors
- Product manufacturers
- Security companies
It’s important to nail down all of the liable parties for your injuries, because that’s who you will be filing your claim against. It’s here that our team can help. We can use our experience and resources to figure out all of your avenues toward damages, and then help you get it through negotiating or presenting a case.
What Can Happen To You at a Target?
When you look at what negligent security entails, it’s not difficult to see how they can lead to you being hurt. Most of the time, especially at a Target, this involves you:
- Being assaulted or robbed
- Having your personal property damaged
- Suffering emotional and mental trauma
Obviously, most Targets are going to take steps to reduce the risk of these incidents happening. However, this is a difficult thing to do. So, here’s a few different ways that negligent security incidents happen at a Target:
- Security issues – Target might not have enough security measures like cameras, guards, good lighting, or locks. This makes it easier for crimes like theft or vandalism to happen.
- Lack of training – Target employees, including security, might not get enough training on handling security issues or emergencies. Without proper training, they might not stop or deal with security problems well.
- Poor maintenance – If Target doesn’t fix broken security equipment like alarms or locks, it makes the store less safe and more likely to have incidents.
- Ignoring risks – Even if Target knows about security risks like theft or violence, if they don’t do anything to stop it, they’re not keeping customers and employees safe.
- Weak response – If something bad happens at Target, they might not react fast or well, making the situation worse and putting people in danger.
- Poor vetting of hires – If Target’s management doesn’t properly look into the backgrounds or history of the people they hire, they could potentially bring someone on staff who has a history of violence or a noted lack of regard for the safety of customers.
What You Need to Do
No matter what caused the incident that led to your injuries, there’s a few steps you have to take to protect your health and claim:
- Report the incident to Target staff or management and have them write up a report of what happened.
- Document the scene by taking pictures and video of the area.
- Get medical care, either on site or by going to an ER or urgent care.
- Talk to any witnesses and exchange information.
- Keep records of your bills and other losses.
Free Consultations For Target Injury Victims in California
Even though Target is incredibly convenient, shopping there can sometimes leave you or a loved one injured because of a lack of security. This is incredibly frustrating, but our team of California negligent security lawyers at Maison Law can help. We’ll explain your legal rights and options, then support you through the recovery process. To get started, contact us today for a free consultation.
