A shooting or stabbing changes a life in seconds. In the weeks that follow, most victims are focused on surgery, recovery, lost paychecks and fear. Very few are thinking about the apartment complex, bar or parking garage where it happened. Yet in many Arizona cases, the place where the attack happened is part of the reason it happened at all.
Arizona law gives victims a way to address that. It is called a negligent-security claim, and it is aimed at the property owner rather than the person who pulled the trigger or held the knife.
The short answer
Yes, in many situations you can sue. If the property where you were hurt failed to provide reasonable security against a danger it should have seen coming, the owner may be financially responsible for your injuries. That claim stands apart from whatever happens in criminal court. The attacker may be charged, convicted, acquitted, or never identified. None of that decides whether the owner did its job.
The Haggard Law Firm represents crime victims from Arizona and across the country. There is no fee unless the firm wins your case.
What you are actually suing for
People sometimes hesitate because they assume a lawsuit means blaming a business for a criminal's choice. That is not how these cases work. You are not asking the owner to pay for the crime itself. You are holding the owner responsible for its own failures: the broken gate that never got fixed, the lights that stayed dark, the guard position that was cut, the warnings that were ignored.
Arizona property owners who control their premises owe the people on that property a duty to take reasonable steps against foreseeable crime. When an owner knows about a danger and does nothing, and someone is shot or stabbed as a result, the law allows the injured person to recover.
How Arizona measures foreseeability
The Arizona Supreme Court addressed this duty in Martinez v. Woodmar. Under Arizona's approach, foreseeability does not decide whether a duty exists. It shapes how much security the owner needed to provide. A property with a long record of violent incidents calls for more than a quiet one with no history of trouble.
Whether the owner's response was reasonable is usually left to a jury. That means the facts of your case matter a great deal: prior police calls, tenant complaints, internal emails, security contracts, and what the owner did, or failed to do, after earlier incidents.
The clock starts on the day of the attack
Arizona generally gives injured people two years from the date of the incident to file a negligence or personal injury claim. When a victim dies, the family's wrongful-death claim generally must be filed within two years of the date of death.
Two years can feel like plenty of time. It usually is not. Surveillance systems often record over old footage within days or weeks. Witnesses move. Maintenance logs get misplaced. A lawyer who gets involved early can send preservation demands before key evidence disappears.
Sharing fault does not end your case
Arizona follows pure comparative fault. If a jury decides you bear some share of responsibility, your recovery is reduced by that percentage, but you are not shut out. The one exception is a plaintiff who intentionally caused the harm. For most victims, this rule means a property owner cannot escape liability simply by pointing at something you did that night.
No cap on what a jury can award
Arizona's constitution prohibits limits on damages for personal injury or death, so compensatory damages are not capped. A victim can seek the full value of medical care, lost income, and pain and suffering. When a loved one is killed, the family's wrongful-death claim can include funeral costs and the loss of the person's support and companionship.
Who handles your case
The Haggard Law Firm is based in Coral Gables, Florida. Michael A. Haggard is licensed to practice in Florida and is not licensed in Arizona. Because negligent security and crime-victim litigation is the core of the firm's practice, and because of the national reputation it has built in this area, Mr. Haggard regularly works on Arizona cases as co-counsel alongside a locally licensed Arizona attorney. Where a court's rules allow, he seeks admission pro hac vice for that individual case. Every Arizona matter is handled together with counsel admitted in Arizona.
The firm has handled nearly 500 negligent-security cases nationwide and secured a $102.7 million verdict, the largest negligent-security verdict in U.S. history.
Phoenix, Tucson and statewide
The firm takes negligent-security cases from anywhere in Arizona, including Phoenix and Tucson. If you were hurt, or you lost someone, at an apartment complex, hotel, nightclub, gas station, store or parking lot, the first step is the same: tell someone what happened while the evidence still exists.
Talk to the firm
Call (305) 446-5700 for a free, confidential case review. You will get an honest assessment of whether you have a claim, and you will not pay attorney's fees unless the firm recovers compensation for you.
Attorney advertising. This post is general information, not legal advice, and reading it or contacting the firm does not form an attorney-client relationship. Michael A. Haggard is licensed in Florida. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
