Negligent Security Attorney in Sacramento

Over 100 Years of Combined Trial Experience Fighting for Sacramento Injury Victims

When you’re assaulted, robbed, or attacked on someone else’s property, the person who harmed you isn’t necessarily the only party responsible. Property owners, landlords, and businesses have a legal duty to protect visitors from foreseeable criminal acts. When they fail, California law gives victims a path to civil recovery. Smolich and Smolich has represented injury clients throughout Sacramento and Northern California since 1969, and our attorneys bring over 100 years of combined trial experience to these claims.

Negligent security describes a property owner’s failure to maintain reasonable security measures that results in a visitor being harmed by a third party’s criminal conduct. It’s a distinct claim from a slip-and-fall: the hazard isn’t a wet floor but an environment where foreseeable criminal conduct went unaddressed. If you were hurt on someone else’s property in Sacramento, you may have a civil claim in addition to any rights you have against the individual who committed the act.

Our consultations are free, and we work on a contingency fee basis: you pay nothing unless we recover compensation for you. Call (916) 571-0400 to speak with a negligent security attorney at Smolich and Smolich.

Property Owner Duty of Care Under California Law

California law holds property owners, businesses, and landlords responsible for protecting people on their premises from foreseeable criminal acts by third parties. The central legal question in these cases is foreseeability: whether a reasonable property owner in that location should have anticipated the risk and taken steps to prevent it.

Foreseeability is typically established through evidence of prior similar incidents at or near the property, including police call logs, prior assault or robbery reports, complaints from tenants or employees, and crime statistics for the surrounding area. Even without a documented history of prior incidents, property owners retain a minimum duty to act when criminal conduct is occurring or imminent on their premises.

Where Negligent Security Claims Arise in Sacramento

These cases can originate at many types of properties. Common locations include:

• Apartment complexes and residential properties with inadequate access controls or broken entry systems
• Parking garages and surface lots with insufficient lighting or absent security personnel
• Bars, nightclubs, and hotels where high-risk conditions are well-documented but unaddressed
• Retail shopping centers, gas stations, and convenience stores with non-functional surveillance or understaffed security
• Office buildings, hospitals, and transit stops where access is insufficiently controlled
• Schools and college campuses where criminal activity has been reported and ignored

Liability doesn’t stop with the individual who committed the crime. Depending on the facts, it may extend to property owners, building managers, and security companies that controlled or maintained the premises.

Why Sacramento Clients Choose Smolich and Smolich

Our firm has roots in Sacramento’s working community going back more than a century, and that history shapes how we approach every case: with one-on-one attention and a legal strategy built around your specific circumstances, not a template.

One practical advantage stands out in negligent security cases that arise on the job. Our attorneys are Certified Specialists in Workers’ Compensation Law. When an injury occurs in the course of employment, you may have both a workers’ compensation claim against your employer and a personal injury claim against the property owner. Our team is equipped to pursue both simultaneously, so you can pursue all available claims at once.

As first- and second-generation trial lawyers, we carry forward decades of Sacramento courtroom experience while maintaining an active litigation practice today. Clients benefit from relationships and institutional knowledge built over more than 50 years of Sacramento personal injury representation.