Serving Boston, Brockton, Taunton, Canton and all of Southeast Massachusetts

Under Massachusetts law, property owners (and occupiers of land) have a responsibility known as Duty of Care. This means that they are required to maintain their properties in a safe manner, and if they do not, may be found liable for negligence if someone is injured, attacked, or killed on their property. They also have a Duty to Warn of known defects and dangers that could cause injury to someone.

Negligent security, which includes inadequate lighting, or lack of security in an area, can contribute to violent crimes. Property owners, especially in high-crime areas, must take measures to ensure the premises are safe and secure.

Land, property owners and maintenance companies are required to install and maintain adequate lighting, surveillance cameras, security gates, or other reasonable measures to deter criminals. Failure to meet certain standards creates liability for violent crimes committed on their premises.

Establishing Owner Liability for Crimes Due To Owner Negligence

Gyms and club owners often post warning signs not to leave valuables, including purses and wallets in cars to avoid theft. But if you are mugged in the parking lot on the way to your car because there was no lighting, they may be liable for the harm you suffered because gym parking lots are known to be common places for theft crimes.

However, in many cases involving crime victims due to negligent, poor, or inadequate security, an element of foreseeability must be established. Even in violent crimes against person, including assault and battery, carjacking, rape, sexual assault, or armed robbery, in order to establish liability, there must have been a foreseeable risk of harm from criminal acts of third persons. This may include police reports showing the property was in a high crime area, or that other patrons had previously been crime victims, or if suspicious activity or security problems were reported to an owner and ignored or improperly addressed.

Duties Of Property Owners

  • Duty to Maintain: The owner/occupier of land owes all lawful visitors a duty of care. You may bring a premises liability claim against the owner or occupier of the property for damages, if, while lawfully on that owner/occupier’s property, you are injured as a result of some defect that was known or foreseeable.
  • Duty to Warn: The owner or occupier of land has a duty to warn people coming on his land of any danger or defect on the property that he knows of or should know of and that is unlikely to be discovered by the visitor. The degree of care a landowner or occupier must exhibit is determined by the type of visitor that is likely to frequent the property. Young children are naturally irresponsible and a landowner must take this into account if school children are frequent visitors. Read more about owner responsibilities…

Attorney Noonan has successfully held property owners and their insurers accountable in complicated cases involving many forms of owner negligence. You can rest assured that when you hire Gerald Noonan, an attorney with a solid reputation, insurance companies know they need to take your claim seriously.

Because each case is different, you need a skilled attorney who can look at all the facts of your case and establish liability for your injuries. Gerald J. Noonan is an experienced Owner Negligence and Premises Liability attorney with more than 30 years of legal and trial experience. Over the course of these three decades attorney Noonan has helped countless accidents victims receive the financial compensation they deserve.

Our Crime Victim Attorneys Hold Negligent Owners Accountable

Our knowledgeable and experienced Greater Boston Premises Liability attorneys are available to assist clients who were injured due to inadequate lighting, or who were unfortunate victims of crime due to negligent security or faulty or inadequate lighting. We take cases throughout all of Southeast Massachusetts, including but not limited to Brockton, Taunton, Bridgewater, Weymouth, Hingham, Quincy, Plymouth, Marshfield, Attleboro, Canton, Stoughton and all smaller cities and rural areas in Southern Massachusetts. We also serve the counties of Plymouth, Norfolk and Bristol, Massachusetts.

No matter where you are located, we are just a phone call away. Call the Boston Injury Lawyer now to schedule a free no-obligation case review and consultation at (508) 588-0422 and you will have taken your first step to find out how best to confront this important matter. You can also click here to use our Free Case Evaluation Form.