Negligent Security Defense

Negligent security cases ask a property owner to answer for a crime someone else committed. Florida law changed substantially on that question in 2023, and the current framework gives defendants two tools they did not have before. The criminal actor can now be placed on the verdict form, and owners of qualifying multifamily properties can earn a statutory presumption against liability by implementing specified security measures.

Topkin Law defends retailers, hotels and resorts, restaurants and bars, multifamily and apartment owners, condominium and homeowners associations, parking facility operators, and commercial landlords, along with the carriers and third-party administrators behind them, in claims arising from assaults, shootings, robberies, and other criminal acts on their premises.

What We Do

Foreseeability defense

The threshold question in most of these cases is whether the criminal act was foreseeable to this defendant, at this location, at this time. We develop the record on prior incidents at the property and in the area, the nature and specificity of what was actually reported to the owner, and the difference between a neighborhood’s general crime statistics and knowledge that would put a reasonable operator on notice. Plaintiffs’ counsel work hard to blur that distinction, and much of the defense consists of restoring it.

Apportionment to the criminal actor

Section 768.0701, Florida Statutes, enacted in 2023, provides that in an action against the owner, lessor, operator, or manager of commercial or real property brought by a person lawfully on the property who was injured by the criminal act of a third party, the trier of fact must consider the fault of all persons who contributed to the injury. That changed the arithmetic of these cases. We plead and prove the apportionment, and we develop the evidence about the assailant that supports it.

The multifamily statutory presumption

Section 768.0706 gives the owner or principal operator of a qualifying multifamily residential property a presumption against liability for third-party criminal acts where specified security measures have been substantially implemented. The measures include camera coverage at entry and exit points with footage retrievable for at least thirty days, lighting standards for parking areas and common spaces, door hardware requirements, a crime prevention through environmental design assessment, and employee crime deterrence and safety training on a defined schedule. The burden of demonstrating substantial implementation sits with the owner. We evaluate whether a property qualifies, build the evidentiary record for the presumption, and advise operators on closing the gaps before a claim arrives.

Security expert and criminology evidence

These cases are fought through experts on both sides, covering security practices, crime analysis, lighting and camera adequacy, and staffing. We retain and prepare the defense experts and challenge plaintiff experts whose opinions rest on hindsight, on standards no property in the market actually meets, or on crime data unconnected to this location.

Contractual risk transfer

Security is usually contracted out, and the security services agreement typically contains indemnity, defense, and additional-insured obligations that the owner is entitled to enforce. We read those contracts at intake, tender to the security vendor and its carrier, and litigate the tender when it is refused. This is often the highest-value work on the file.

Awards & Accolades

Who We Represent

Retailers and shopping center owners, hotels and resorts, restaurants, bars, and nightclubs, apartment and multifamily owners and managers, condominium and homeowners associations, parking operators, commercial landlords, and the insurers, third-party administrators, and self-insured companies responsible for the exposure.

How We Approach
the Work

The defense is built on three fronts at once. Foreseeability comes first, then apportionment to the person who committed the crime, then whatever statutory protection the property qualifies for. Any one of them can decide the case, and they are developed in parallel rather than in sequence.

A good deal of the useful work happens before there is a lawsuit. Operators who understand what the multifamily presumption requires, and who document their compliance, are in a better position when a claim arrives than operators who first hear about the statute from defense counsel.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a jury now assign fault to the person who committed the crime?

Under Section 768.0701, in a covered action the trier of fact must consider the fault of all persons who contributed to the injury. Before that statute, the criminal actor generally could not be placed on the verdict form in these cases, and the assailant’s conduct entered only through the foreseeability analysis. How the provision applies to a given case still depends on the facts and on when the claim arose.

Does the multifamily presumption apply to condominium and homeowners associations?

The statute defines multifamily residential property to include groups of residential buildings such as apartments, townhouses, or condominiums with at least five dwelling units on a parcel, and applies to the owner or principal operator. Whether a particular association or management structure falls within that definition is a specific question worth answering before a claim rather than after.

Our property does not currently meet the statutory measures. Is it worth changing that?

That is a business decision, but the analysis is worth doing. The measures are concrete and largely capital and process items, and the presumption is only available to owners who can demonstrate substantial implementation. We advise operators on where their properties stand and what compliance would require.

Does the firm handle these claims for carriers as well as owners?

Yes. The firm is retained both by property owners and operators directly and by the insurers and third-party administrators handling the claim.

How current is the law described on this page?

These provisions took effect in 2023 and are still being construed by Florida courts. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and the application of any statute depends on the facts of the specific matter.