**Prospective clients may not obtain similar results. Amounts stated below are before deductions for fees, cost of attorneys and third party providers such as medical providers.**
Negligent Security
We at The Haggard Law Firm have undertaken several cases involving the failure to provide adequate security resulting in the victim suffering severe injuries and/or death. Establishments such as bars, restaurants, flea markets, shopping centers, nursing homes, banks, hotels and apartment buildings have all been subjects of successfully litigated negligent security claims. By representing individuals permanently injured in cases stemming from negligent security, we believe that we are taking an active role in making the community safe for the public.
In November 2007, attorney Michael Haggard successfully obtained a $102.7 million verdict in a negligent security case thought to be the largest verdict of its kind in the country. On July 31, 2002, Sami Barrak was a patron at Tootsie's Cabaret, which was a tenant at the Sierra Shopping Center owned by Report Investment Corporation. Mr. Barrak and a friend were leaving the establishment when the friend returned to retrieve an item left inside. As Mr. Barrak sat waiting in his car for his friend to return he was approached by an unknown person who attempted to rob him at gunpoint. After a brief exchange of unknown words, the assailant shot Mr. Barrak in the neck and left, rendering Mr. Barrak a ventilator-dependant quadriplegic.
The jury found that Report Investment Corporation, Inc., owned and managed the property and therefore had the duty to maintain it in a reasonable safe condition commensurate with the activities conducted on the property in order to prevent harm to its business invitees. At the time of the shooting, there was only one guard on duty to observe and report any crimes that might occur in and around Tootsie's Cabaret. Report Investment Corporation provided no security and admitted they had never spent one dollar on security or safety. There had been a reported 26 violent crimes on the same property during the seven years prior to Mr. Barrak's incident. Please click here to view a video regarding this highly publicized case.
Attorney Wm. Andrew Haggard was able to obtain a $2 million settlement for the family of Bryan Pata, a standout University of Miami football player who was tragically shot in the parking lot of his apartment complex in Miami.
Another noteworthy case dealing with negligent security is Maldonado v. Park Plaza Hotel in which the plaintiff was attacked and killed in the hotel parking lot after leaving the hotel bar early in the morning. An angry patron, who had confronted the plaintiff in the bar, followed him out to the parking lot and beat him to death. The case resulted in a $4 million settlement between the hotel and the family of the victim.
Our firm also represented the Campos family in a highly publicized shooting at the Opa-Locka Hialeah Flea Market. We were able to obtain a $2.2 million award for the survivors of that horrible incident that was easily preventable if proper security measures were in place.