by Matt Williams

Personal InjuryMarch 30, 20210 comments

How Much Money Can I Get Paid After Being Shot on Someone Else’s Property?

Unfortunately, people are injured in shootings every day.  In most cases, the shooter is held criminally responsible for the shooting.  In some cases, the owner of the property where the shooting occurred is held liable in civil proceedings for failing to provide adequate security. How?  In Florida, property owners and property managers are required to protect individuals on their property from foreseeable third-party crime.  That being said, if a property owner or property manager fails to warn you about potential third-party crime, or if they fail to protect you from third party crime, and you are shot, then you should speak to an attorney at The Law Office of Matthew C. Williams about your situation.  There is a good chance Attorney Williams can recover money for your injuries.

The exact amount of money that you receive after being injured in a shooting depends on a few factors.  The extent of your injuries, your medical bills and the property owner’s insurance policy limits are the three most important components in determining how much money you’ll receive (in most cases businesses have a commercial general liability policy with a $1 million policy limit).  Future medical costs, pain and suffering, and how much time you missed from work will also be considered in determining the amount of compensation you’re eligible for.  Some people question why the property owner is responsible for a shooting committed by someone else, but the property owner had a legal duty to protect you from the shooting.  Also, the purpose of receiving money after a shooting is to “make you whole” again, or to put you back in the position you were in before the shooting.  In most cases, making you “whole” is nearly impossible, so the money you receive is supposed to get you back to a place of normalcy like the shooting never happened.

The extent of your injuries is always a major factor in evaluating a negligent security claim, but the exact value of injuries can be difficult to calculate since everyone’s injuries are valued differently.  For example, a shooting involving a young Olympic athlete who remains in the hospital for 2 months and can never walk again without assistance will be valued differently than a shooting involving a young man who is grazed in the arm and does not have permanent injuries.  That is true because the Olympic athlete’s earning capacity will be diminished much greater than the other young man’s earning capacity.  It is also true because the Olympic athlete’s past and future medical costs will be higher, and because the Olympic athlete had to endure much more pain and suffering.  Obviously, the young man who was grazed would still receive compensation for his injuries, but the Olympic athlete would likely be able to recover far more for his or her damages given the differences in their injuries.

Medical bills are objective and can be easily calculated, but damages for pain and suffering are extremely subjective.  Using our example above, the Olympic athlete and the other young man man will likely recover different amounts of compensation for damages arising out of pain and suffering at the time of the accident since they experienced vastly different injuries.  They also had and will have different experiences with how long the pain lasted, how much they continue to suffer and how much they plan to rehabilitate their injuries.  The Olympic athlete in our example may require multiple surgeries and physical therapy in the future as he or she attempts to learn to walk/run again, while the young man who was grazed may decide to never seek any follow up treatment.  Even when injuries are similar in nature, damages for pain and suffering or future medical costs may be drastically different.   

The Law Office of Matthew C. Williams has recovered millions of dollars for clients injured in shootings, and we can help you recover a significant amount of money if you were injured in a shooting as well.  If you have been injured in a shooting or some other situation, then you should contact The Law Office of Matthew C. Williams to determine how much compensation you can receive for your injuries.  Insurance companies will oftentimes dispute liability, argue your injuries are not as bad as they seem, or they will delay their case until you are willing to settle for less than your case is worth, but with the help of Attorney Williams, you will have the same resources, financial backing and experience that the insurance companies have. 

The Law Office of Matthew C. Williams focuses primarily on negligent security matters and we take pride in having a personal relationship with their clients. Attorney Williams treats his clients like family because he knows what they are dealing with is always more than just a case, and he refuses to let adjusters, defense lawyers, or big insurance stand in the way of getting his clients what they deserve. He obtains results for his clients and he’ll do the same for you, so give The Law Office of Matthew C. Williams a call to find out what your case is worth today.