Episode 19

full
Published on:

20th Nov 2023

Understanding Premises Liability in Apartment Complex Injuries in New Jersey

Episode 19 of Jersey Justice Podcast™: Understanding Premises Liability in Apartment Complex Injuries in New Jersey

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Transcript
Speaker:

Welcome to Jersey Justice, a

civil law podcast that shares

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practical tips and stories about

personal and workplace injuries.

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Join two of the brightest New Jersey

injury attorneys, Gerald Clark and Mark

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Morris of Clark Law Firm, as they take

you behind the scenes of justice and civil

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law, but first, a quick disclaimer, the

information shared on this podcast is

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for general information purposes only.

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Nothing on this site should be

taken as legal advice for any

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individual case or situation.

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This information is not intended

to create and does not constitute

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an attorney client relationship.

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What happens when someone gets

injured in their apartment

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building our apartment complex?

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So i'm here with mark and jerry And

I want to talk to them and see What

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their thoughts are on this, because

I think there's a lot of injuries

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that happen in apartment complexes.

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And when you think about it, it's the

responsibility of the property management

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company or the landlord to create a

safe environment for all the residents.

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But as we know, that

doesn't always happen.

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So I'd love to hear some stories

from you guys, or maybe any cases

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that you've heard about or worked on

where the apartment complexes were

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at fault and people got injured.

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Like what happened?

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Well, the thing with apartment

complexes is so it's no different than

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any other premises liability case.

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A premises liability case is where

someone gets hurt on someone's

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property, whether it's at like a

restaurant, a business, someone's home.

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So basically anyone one.

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That owns property.

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Generally speaking, it's supposed to

make sure that the property is reasonably

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safe for anyone that comes on there.

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So premises liability cases are

basically where there's a property owner.

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Anyone that owns property, whether

it's a business or a house or

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an apartment complex is supposed

to keep the property reasonably

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safe for anyone that comes on it.

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And it's basically a public

policy thing to make sure that

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people aren't needlessly injured.

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So, you know, if you're a business

owner or a homeowner, Um, you have

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to keep it reasonably safe and

there's like different levels of

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safety depending on who's on there.

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And, uh, one way, uh, I can talk

about the different levels of safety

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or the different level of care that's

required is that movie Liar Liar.

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I, I don't like the idea of the movie,

like Liar Liar, like lawyers are liars.

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Definitely, we've experienced a lot of,

uh, lawyers that lie in, in litigation

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or in cases and they twist reality so

much that it rises to the level of a lie.

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But I, it's the funniest thing

because it's like, you're not

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allowed to call someone a liar.

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It's like a super harsh thing.

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I don't know.

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You have to use other words like, Oh,

misrepresented or not based in the record.

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Generally, if you call someone

a liar, it's kind of a turnoff.

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But anyway, there's that movie liar, liar.

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And there's that funny part in it

where, um, the secretary is like

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mad at him and he can't lie anymore.

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And the secretary, the secretary's

mad because someone broke into her

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apartment and got injured and sued

her, the secretary, the guy that

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broke in that was trying to rob her.

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And, um, and I forget what man is like,

it's like I had to pay him 20, 000

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and, and, uh, um, Jim Carrey and Liar

Liar is like, I would've got him 50.

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It's kind of a funny thing.

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Um, but what that relates to apartment

comp, first of all, in that movie, like

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I think she said, I had to pay him money.

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The way that works is she

wouldn't have had to pay anything.

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It's always, not always, but almost always

on the list or something unusual happens.

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It's almost always the insurance.

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So.

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If you own a home, it's a homeowner's

insurance would pay the case and

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pay for the lawyers and renters

should get renter's insurance.

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But anyway, the reason that relates

to it is because different people

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on the property, depending on

their status on the property, and

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depending on what state it happens

in, there's a different level of care.

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So business invitees, which are people

that go onto a property, meaning

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go to a store to buy something,

they're called business invitees.

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Or if you go to a show, you go

to a concert, you'd be like a

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business invitee because you're...

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There is part of business.

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You're paying something.

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They're owed the highest level of care.

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And then you have people called invitees

were Licensees where you're allowed

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to come on the premises, but you're

not paying anything for it And then

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the people that get the lowest level

of care meeting the case would be the

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hardest to prove is trespassers So in

liar liar in that situation the guy that

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was robbing it would would be called

the trespasser But in reality the guy

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who was robbing Her apartment complex

where she lived, no lawyer would take

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that case, at least not any lawyers I

know, because it would be super hard.

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That's good.

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I like that story.

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I think the audience will like that story.

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Yeah, so, you know, it's not terribly

unique for apartment complexes.

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Um, one thing that can get kind of

edgy about it is if there's a community

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association that runs it, like if

there's a management association.

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So what happens is if

you're a member of like a.

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condo association, there would be like

a condominium association that runs it.

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Right.

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Then they may have, um, they have

what's called bylaws and all this stuff.

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And that document is super important

to look at that, to determine what

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the rights are and the liabilities are

of the people that live in the condo

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as against the condo association.

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But it's all important stuff

because people have died from.

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Businesses not keeping a safe

premises and got really injured.

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And when people get injured, like

I had a call with a woman yesterday

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on a case, a potential case.

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And she's like, I'm a single

mom, you know, I teach.

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Now I have this, you know, horrible

pulmonary injury from what happened.

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And I'm the only breadwinner in the house.

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And you know, they, they go on and on.

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I'm like, listen, I get it.

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I understand.

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I've been doing these cases a long time.

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I really understand how this

affects your life and everything.

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So you could joke and say, Oh, it's not

really terribly exciting or who cares

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about this, unless it happens to you.

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Um, but I know Mark has an interesting,

uh, story in terms of, it's not so

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much an apartment complex, but it's

very similar because it dealt with,

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um, like a negligent security thing

and connection with a mall in Marlton.

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And there's this interesting story

Mark probably has about that if he

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remembers where the person got mugged

by, I think it was like a meth addict

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or a heroin addict or something.

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Yeah, it was, it was two heroin addicts

that were like casing out an area.

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Jerry's right, like we could try

pretty hard to make apartment

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complex cases sound interesting.

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I, you know, personally found the

classification of trespasser versus

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invitee, you know, breathtaking.

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But that, that really is the law.

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Sometimes there's aspects

of it that are really dry.

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Then there's aspects like the story

aspects that are, that can be fascinating.

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I did an apartment case where a nice

young lady tripped and fell down a

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stairwell that didn't have proper

lighting and the stairway was too steep.

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She hurt her ankle.

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Like that's kind of about as exciting

as a apartment complex case can get.

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Um, unless it's one, I think that Jerry's

kind of mentioning segwaying into,

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which is more like negligent security.

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Cases, which is like a fancy way of

saying something really bad happened,

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almost with like a criminal, criminal

element to it, uh, to someone

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and they got hurt like real bad.

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Well, bingo.

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I'll give you guys some examples

and you guys can give me your, you

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know, professional legal opinion.

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Like what if you live in an apartment

complex and it's like a luxury

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complex and then there's like door

doors that go into the garage and

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there's plenty of doors in these

doors because they are key fob access.

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And they've been broken for

weeks because the company says,

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Oh, we have to order a part.

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We don't have the part in

stock, blah, blah, blah.

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And then while meanwhile, the people

who live in the apartment complex

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are complaining, complaining because

they're worried for their safety.

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Now, hypothetically, if somebody happened

to come into the building and do something

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and someone got injured, Wouldn't that

be a pretty big liability on part of the

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management, property management company

for not fixing that in a timely manner.

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So one of the things that you

said in there, I think would kind

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of be key to a case like that.

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A lot of times we have to worry

about notice and knowledge.

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Like basically, was it

foreseeable that something bad.

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Could have happened and then was there

complaints or were there complaints about

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the condition that made it potential

for this dangerous thing to happen?

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So if there's records, if people

have documented, if it's, you know,

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comes out in discovery that there's

been complaints like, hey, we're

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concerned about this, can you fix this?

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It doesn't get fixed.

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Um, that that can be a pretty good case.

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But a lot of times what the law looks

for is like, what's fair, what's.

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What's like foreseeable?

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Like, would it be foreseeable that if

those locks are broken that someone could

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break into the complex and hurt someone?

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So, if there's been complaints and

people saying, hey, we're concerned

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for our safety, like, that's a plus.

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That's definitely something

that's really helpful.

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If there have been other violent crimes in

the area, like that's extremely helpful.

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And then the most helpful is all of

all would be like if something similar

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had happened before to that complex,

and they haven't changed anything

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or done anything different about it.

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And so that a lot of times, like.

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You know, in the law, like there's

different things like New Jersey with

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dog bites, you don't get like one free

bite before the owner of the dog's

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responsible, like if the dog bites someone

and they get injured, that's a case,

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it's strict liability with like products.

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If somebody gets hurt using a product,

it's not like, well, you know, we didn't

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know that someone could gotten hurt

because no one's gotten hurt before.

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Like, you don't get 1 free injury before

there's a, there's a case, but with

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negligent security, it's a little bit.

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Touchier because like if I'm in the

nicest neighborhood in the world and you

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know, that's where my apartment is and

there's been no issues before and I walk

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outside and someone mugs me and I break

my collarbone and, you know, I have to

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get surgery that could be a really tough

case if there's no prior records, if there

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was anything, if there's no complaints

about dangerous things, like if there's

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the big thing is in a lot of these

negative security cases is we want to get

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like the records of criminal activity.

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Okay.

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So like the case Jerry's talking about, it

was this really nice, like open air mall.

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It was high end stores.

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Um, you know, it was like an Apple

store, probably like American Eagle,

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whatever you think of when you

think of like higher end stores.

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And it's like particular night, they were

putting on a summer concert event series.

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And it's not like they've got

like Metallica or some huge band.

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It was like.

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Probably a little band

there for like kids.

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And, um, it brought on like a few

more people to watch this event.

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And so this mall knew that like,

by putting this event on, that

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they'd get more guests, um, and all

this, and that's why they did it.

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So they get more guests,

they can make more money.

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And so we, you know, we took the

deposition and I asked like, okay, so

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you guys put this event on, like, what

steps did you make sure that like this.

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Heightened influx of people

were, were going to be safe.

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And they're like, well, you

know, we didn't really do much.

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We just talked to the, the two

security guards that were on duty.

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We told him just to patrol the perimeter.

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So I'm like, all right, great.

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Is that written anymore?

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Anywhere?

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Are there post orders?

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Like, how is that communicated?

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They're like, Oh, we just,

uh, we just told him.

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We're like, okay.

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So I took the security guards

step and the guy's like, how much

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longer am I going to be here?

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Like, you know, I thought he was going

to topple over during the deposition.

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So this is the security company

that he got out and hired.

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Um, so with that case,

there were two targets.

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Is it that the guy that would drive

around in the maintenance truck or

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something, a maintenance man doubling

as the security guard for the place?

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They literally had a maintenance truck

and they just take this like Amber light

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and stick it on top and drive around.

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And that was supposed to be security.

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And, uh, there were two targets,

like two main sets of defendants.

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In that case, it was like the mall itself.

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Because they're the premise that

like the property owner, they have a

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duty similar to an apartment complex

to keep the property safe from

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unreasonably dangerous conditions.

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Um, and then they're the security

guards themselves since they'd gone out,

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they've been brought in to do a service.

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They have to follow the standards

in their field, make sure they don't

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deviate from the standards and they're

doing what they're supposed to be

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doing, which is providing security.

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So it turned out for this, um, this

summer concert event, these two security

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guards there, their orders from the

general manager, whose experience was

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like she had worked at a banana Republic

for a couple of years before the, like,

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general manager said, all right, I

want you guys to patrol the perimeter.

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So these guys, what they were doing

is it came out through the deposition.

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Um, I was like, all right, where

were you when the event occurred?

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They were like, Oh, we're standing.

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You know, watching the concert and I

was like, so what was your back to that?

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Well, our back was,

was to everything else.

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And then the other guy, I was like,

all right, well, what was your role?

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He's like, well, we were supposed

to be going like opposite ways.

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So we had the perimeter covered.

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The whole time.

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And it's like, all right, was

your attention supposed to be

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on the crowd at the concert?

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No, it was to patrol the perimeter.

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Where were you at the time of the event?

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I was watching the concert.

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Where was the other security guard?

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Oh, he was right next to me.

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How long were you guys in that position?

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And they were there for

like 15 or 20 minutes.

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Tell them the event though.

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What happened?

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Everyone wants to know what

actually, what was the story?

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It's pretty bad.

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This is the, this is the, the long buildup

to, so you've got these two security

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guards standing, watching this concert.

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They're back to the mall.

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That they're supposed to be patrolling

and this very, very lovely, I

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don't want to do her disservice.

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I think she was 80 years old.

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And if not, she's pretty close.

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This 80 year old, a woman had gone

out to dinner with her friend.

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Friend's name was probably like

Dorothy or Gertrude or something.

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It really, I think was one of those names.

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She was just this adorable lady.

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Yeah, I think it was Mildred.

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Yeah.

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Like it, honestly, it's one of those,

one of those names that when you hear

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your friend name their daughter, you

know, Gertrude or something, you're

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like, is that name coming back?

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It could have been Mil,

it could have been.

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Um, yeah, it could have been

Mildred or, yeah, . Yeah.

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It's like Eleanor.

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I don't know.

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And she sounds like such a sweet lady.

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She was.

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She, honestly, it was, and again.

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Like a lot of times in this job, like you

have to put yourself in the client's shoes

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and be able to like empathize with them.

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This was not difficult.

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It, this was the sweetest old lady.

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Her husband cared for her so much.

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Like, but so this woman's out

to dinner with her friend.

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They, I forget where they had gone,

but they're leaving the restaurant.

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She's got her purse around her arm.

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And these, they were

like, like heroin addicts.

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They had been on this like crime spree and

they were casing out the area for a while.

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And they were casing the area.

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A couple people around the mall had

noticed them suspicious characters.

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They made note of it, but the

security guards are supposed to

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be patrolling, never saw them

because they weren't patrolling.

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So these heroin addicts that have like

been casing out the area, see this

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little old lady leaving the mall or

leaving the restaurant, like sprint up.

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One guy goes to grab her purse

and it's like attached to her arm.

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So when he pulls her down, her

shoulder breaks, her hip breaks.

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She's getting dragged along while

this guy's trying to steal her, uh,

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steal her purse, eventually gets

it, gets free, uh, and runs away.

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She was in the hospital

for, I think it was weeks.

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She ended up getting MRSA, like.

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Multiple infections.

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Um, it was, it was horrible, but so

she ended up with a broken shoulder.

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Remember she had grip issues.

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She then had all these

different ways to open things.

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Her husband had to help her

like Cook her hip being broken.

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I didn't even realize that this is the

it's like medieval the the treatment for

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a broken hip Is they essentially put you

in like traction with a pulley system?

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Like essentially pulling your like

leg back into place like back into

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the socket It's it's wild but so you

can imagine for an 80 year old woman

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having broken shoulder broken hip

Um, multiple, multiple infections.

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It was a horrible, horrible ordeal.

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Um, hurt really, really bad.

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And the tough thing in a case like that is

like, like, what's your instinct to blame?

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Like, I've talked a lot about the

security guards in the mall, but

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like, it's your instinct to be

like, well, who, who did what wrong?

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It's like the criminal, the guy that

grabbed her purse and pulled her down

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and broke her arm and like her hip.

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So in negligent security cases, it's like

that a lot of times is the main defense.

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They'll be like, Oh, it's

the criminal's fault.

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Like, what were we supposed to do?

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And that's where it kind of ties back

into the things like, like foreseeability

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and what's the standard of care.

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And we did, it was an Oprah request

for anything relating to like

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crime in the area, and I'm pretty

positive that I got two things.

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One of them was that there was graffiti.

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Like, on certain areas of the mall,

um, I, I got them to admit that,

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like, you know, graffiti were like,

signs of like, criminal activity.

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It's like a broken windows theory,

um, and they were like, yeah, so

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we're aware that that was going on.

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And there was like a theft at an

apple store, like somebody like

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shoplifted and like those 2 events,

the defendants filed a motion to get

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out of the case to dismiss the thing.

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Like, those 2 events were enough for the

judge to say that it was foreseeable that

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something like that could have happened.

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that's it.

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So the case survived this summary judgment

motion to have the thing thrown out.

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And actually, I remember Jerry

and I split the arbitration.

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I think I did liability.

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He did damages and it ended up

being, I don't want to misquote it.

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What was it like?

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It's like a 2, 000, 000 or something,

like 2, 000, 000 plus like ARB award.

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Um, I've been one, I'm confusing my

millions these days, but, uh, it ended up

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being like a really, really good award.

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I think Jerry's pulling something up.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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So these are the, these are the two perks.

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Can you zoom into that a little bit

for the audience so they can see

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what these characters look like?

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Okay, perfect.

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And they were, you could see.

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They appear to be, they're all like

withdrawing from the drugs they were on.

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:

So yeah, and that like our whole theory

in the case too, is like, so if you

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go out and hire a security firm, like

you have to, you've taken the step,

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you recognize that there's something

potentially dangerous that could happen

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on your property, but that's not enough.

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You can't just go out and

hire a security company.

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You have to communicate to

them what they should be doing.

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:

That's not to say that they need

to be like an expert in security

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:

or what, but, you know, there

were no written protocols there.

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Like, I think the operations manual

for the security company itself

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:

said, like, we never want two

people standing next to each other.

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:

That doesn't accomplish like our goals.

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:

Um, and then for the security

company itself, it's like, well,

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:

there's a standard of care,

like they were told what to do.

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They didn't follow it.

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So they ended up splitting it.

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:

I think it was actually, it was a million.

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I think they split it like 500,

000 each, if I recall correctly.

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:

Um, to pay it out, which for, you know,

someone in their 80s who went through

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:

something pretty horrible, like that,

that was pretty, uh, that was pretty good

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:

compensation, especially given the case

had gone to trial and the defendant, the

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:

actual criminals had gone on the verdict

sheet, you know, a jury could have put 100

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:

percent liability on them or 80 percent

liability on them, whatever it may be.

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And there we wouldn't be

able to collect on that.

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There would be no assets.

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There would be no, like nothing

to collect, but that's like

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:

for apartment complexes.

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It's the same thing.

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:

So with liability, they have to have

reasonable security and all that stuff.

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:

So I don't know if that's if

that is in any way making.

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:

Well, yeah apartment apartment complex

discussions anyway interesting but I

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:

think mark's story was very interesting

and i'm laughing on the inside because

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:

whatever he Described as an actual real

life scenario partially in the sense

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:

where when mark when you said They knew

that there was going to be a concert

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:

across the streets They knew that there

would be increased traffic in the area.

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:

So the real life story like Where I live,

there's literally a concert place, I

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:

can see it from my office right now, out

the window, and, and we've been saying,

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:

get more security, get more security,

and they did get security, right?

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:

I don't know if it's going to be there

all the time, but doors not being fixed

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:

and all that, because you know, It's when

you have a large venue that attracts a

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:

lot of people from all over a city to

come to one place and there's a parking

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:

structure attached to apartment complex

where people are going to try to park

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:

and go into so we did our little own

snooping around we went to go talk to the

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:

security officer to see because we want

to know if we Or being kept safe or not.

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:

So the security officer was like not

letting, she was doing a good job, right?

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:

But was she there the whole,

the next time there was there?

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:

She wasn't there.

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:

So what happened to the

building hiring people?

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:

Right?

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:

Um, another scenario, an older lady, she

was walking her dog on the premises of

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:

the building in the back where they have

like a walking area, but it's part of the

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:

property owned by the apartment complex.

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:

Well, the grass was really high.

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:

Because there's a ton of

construction around and there's

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:

like, like a hole in the ground.

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:

So her foot, when she stepped, because

she couldn't see it, she stepped in the

411

:

hole, she fell, she broke her wrist.

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:

I actually took her to the

emergency room and helped her out.

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:

And in my opinion, and of course, I'm

going to think in lawyer terms, right?

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:

She literally could sue them if she

wanted to, but she's like, no, but like

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:

what's your thought on that liability?

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:

It's not never clear cut, right?

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:

Like we can say did she fall because

a dog pulled the leash too hard.

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:

Now, there's cameras around, but

what do you guys think of that?

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:

Because I'm just curious now how do

you like, things are never cut and dry.

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:

Like last time we talked about the

automobile accidents and the camera,

421

:

the dash cam, they're never cut and dry.

422

:

Says lawyers.

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:

For the audience, how do you guys

go and determine who's really at

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:

fault and proving like, hey, they,

they were liable department complex.

425

:

Yeah, so I think we touched on

this before to the only wrinkle

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:

kind of, or not only, but a wrinkle

with department complex cases.

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:

I know for a fact with the condo.

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:

Potential condo association cases.

429

:

Is those bylaws, like it depends a

lot of times, like what those bylaws

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:

say, like in New Jersey, sometimes

it could say like gross negligence,

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:

which is a slightly higher standard

of care than the negligence, um, that

432

:

you could sue for it all depends.

433

:

Like, I hate to give the politician,

like lawyer answer of like, it

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:

depends, but it really does like,

like saying someone fell in a hole

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:

that was obscured by like tall grass.

436

:

There's so many different little variables

was that hole on the apartment complex,

437

:

like property, whose responsibility

is it to maintain the grass?

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:

Um, is there like an outside,

you know, is there like a, uh,

439

:

agreement between like a maintenance

company and the apartment complex?

440

:

Is the whole itself, does that

constitute like an unreasonably dangerous

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:

condition or like a dangerous condition?

442

:

And then, yeah, you're right.

443

:

If she's walking along in broad daylight

and like trips and falls in this whole.

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:

Not carrying anything like that's one

set of facts if it's nighttime she falls

445

:

It's a different set of facts like her

dog pulling her because what happens

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:

is even if you then have like say it's

cut and dry That hole's dangerous.

447

:

It shouldn't be there.

448

:

We know who put it there.

449

:

Um, and they didn't do anything about it.

450

:

It's like, all right, that's great.

451

:

And then what about the plaintiff?

452

:

Did the plaintiff do anything wrong?

453

:

Should the person that's suing, should

they have been doing anything different?

454

:

Were they carrying too much

stuff, like walking their dog?

455

:

Because then sometimes that can poke

away at potential liability there.

456

:

Again, it like really depends.

457

:

That's like the classic, give

the example like being at a bar.

458

:

Someone comes up and like,

hey, my friend's got this case.

459

:

And it's like, well, what happened?

460

:

And they're like, they fell in a hole.

461

:

Outside their apartment complex.

462

:

Like, is that a case?

463

:

And it's like, I don't know.

464

:

Tell him to give us a call.

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:

We'll take a look at it and figure it out.

466

:

But there's just, there's so much to it.

467

:

That's a great answer, Mark,

because that's what people can see.

468

:

There's a lot that goes into, you

know, handling cases behind the scenes.

469

:

It's never cut and dry.

470

:

There's like a million

factors to consider.

471

:

So I think that's what the audience

can take away from From this, you know,

472

:

this comment that we're talking about

and different attorneys to different

473

:

law firms will have different views on

cases, like, even internally, we'll talk

474

:

through cases like one person might see

it one way another, you know, another way.

475

:

And there's all these little different.

476

:

Nuances to it that there there

really is no just cut and dry.

477

:

Yeah, Mark.

478

:

Thanks so much for sharing that.

479

:

I think that's a great, you know, scenario

and example for people to understand.

480

:

Um, 1 final question and then

we'll kind of wrap this thing up.

481

:

What happens if someone is injured

outside of their apartment complex,

482

:

but within a few, let's say, 500

feet, does that still count as.

483

:

Being on the property or not, and I'm

sure you're going to say the same thing.

484

:

There's probably many different factors,

but what are some of those factors?

485

:

So under it, it depends.

486

:

It all depends on the law of the state.

487

:

Um, it just depends.

488

:

And like Mark said, there's so

many different variables and stuff.

489

:

But one of the biggest variables

to prevailing on a case like this

490

:

is to get the right lawyer that

knows how to do these cases and has

491

:

experience and experience in trying

cases and getting verdicts and stuff.

492

:

That's that's a enormous factor.

493

:

Um, there's only so much the lawyer

can do, and it's a big, it's a big

494

:

factor, but it's not everything.

495

:

Um, But anyway, under New

Jersey law, it, it depends.

496

:

So for example, if generally with an

apartment complex, it would be hard to

497

:

envision a scenario where someone injured

off the premises of the apartment of

498

:

the apartment would have a claim against

the apartment, but there are cases.

499

:

So, for example.

500

:

If there's a dedicated parking area

across the street from the apartment,

501

:

and let's say it's not on the apartment's

premises, but the apartment knows that

502

:

visitors always park there, let's say

it's some open lot or something or some

503

:

somewhat abandoned lot, for example,

and the apartment knows that their

504

:

invitees or their vacationers park there.

505

:

People that visit the apartment will park

there a lot, but there's not a safe way to

506

:

get from the parking lot to the apartment.

507

:

Then there could be liability if the

person gets hurt crossing the street or

508

:

if there's like an adjacent parking lot

and then there's a pathway to get to the

509

:

apartment and same scenario they know.

510

:

But there's like a dangerous pathway

or jagged rebar sticking up, then

511

:

that's a scenario where off premises

they could potentially be responsible.

512

:

But I think as far as like a closing

thought, um, I would say that if,

513

:

if you, um, you know, if you own

an apartment complex, keep it safe.

514

:

You know, do use common sense, be

reasonable, get proper security,

515

:

especially depending on if

you're in a more crime area.

516

:

And if you're living in an apartment

complex, you know, get renter's

517

:

insurance, or if you own an apartment

in an apartment complex, make

518

:

sure you have liability insurance.

519

:

And everyone should just, uh, be

safe, you know, to try to prevent

520

:

getting involved in a lawsuit.

521

:

Yeah.

522

:

Thank you, Jerry.

523

:

Mark, any, any last thoughts?

524

:

No.

525

:

And if, if there are dangerous conditions

or things going on in your apartment

526

:

complex, like document it, report it,

um, because that can be really helpful

527

:

down the road, like saying, oh, hey,

there was this dangerous thing for a

528

:

long time is way different than saying,

hey, there was this dangerous condition.

529

:

Here's this email that I sent

to the apartment complex owner.

530

:

They didn't do anything about it.

531

:

Um, cause like Jay said, yeah,

that's a great, that's a great point.

532

:

If you know something's going on in

your apartment complex, send an email,

533

:

document it because if something happens,

like that's huge evidence, like Mark

534

:

said, yeah, that's a really great tip.

535

:

Mark.

536

:

Absolutely.

537

:

Thank you guys so much.

538

:

We will see you next time.

539

:

And if you guys have questions

for us, do not forget to go to

540

:

questions at Jersey justice podcast.

541

:

com and we may answer them live.

542

:

And there you have it, folks.

543

:

Another episode of Jersey Justice Podcast.

544

:

If you're loving what you're hearing,

it's time to hit that subscribe button

545

:

on Apple, YouTube, and Spotify podcasts.

546

:

And don't forget to

leave us a review online.

547

:

Share this podcast with your

friends and become their legal hero.

548

:

Dive into more episodes

at Jersey justice podcast.

549

:

com are Clark law and j.

550

:

com.

551

:

And check out our show

notes for more information.

552

:

If you're navigating legal issues and

need a guiding light, or just a phone

553

:

call away, call us at 1 877 841 8855.

554

:

Again, 1 877 841 8855.

555

:

Until next time, Jersey justice

warriors stay empowered and informed.

556

:

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About the Podcast

Jersey Justice
A Civil Law Podcast
Jersey Justice delivers insightful and engaging discussions on a range of civil law and policy matters in New Jersey, including workplace and construction site injuries, automobile crashes, commercial litigation, and other related legal matters. Jersey Justice is designed to keep listeners informed and educated about the complexities of civil law and policy in America.

Jersey Justice: A Civil Law Podcast is hosted by esteemed attorneys Gerald H. Clark and Mark W. Morris and delivers captivating and informative content through an interview-driven format, enriched with panel discussions that showcase the expertise of distinguished guest speakers from the legal field. The podcast is produced by Dimple Dang, Podcaster and Legal Marketing Expert.

About your hosts

Gerald Clark

Profile picture for Gerald Clark
Gerald H. Clark, Esq. is certified by the New Jersey Supreme Court as a Civil Trial Attorney and holds a distinction shared by less than 3% of New Jersey attorneys.

Gerald H. Clark, an accomplished and influential attorney in New Jersey's construction injury law, has made significant strides in the legal field. A long-time member of the Board of Governors of the New Jersey Association for Justice, he has served as counsel on numerous state and national class action matters, including a landmark consumer fraud lawsuit against Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, which resulted in a settlement valued at $1-3 billion.

Throughout his career, Gerald has successfully handled catastrophic loss and wrongful death cases, passionately representing deserving clients on a contingency basis to ensure access to justice. His strategic appeals in cases like Costa v. Gaccione and Fernandes v. DAR Development Corp. have influenced New Jersey's construction injury law for the benefit of workers.

Gerald has been recognized in the New Jersey Law Journal's "40 Under 40" and named a "Rising Stars Super Lawyer" from 2006-2012. Since 2013, he has been consistently honored as a "Super Lawyer" by Thompson Reuters, a "Top 100 Trial Lawyer" by the National Trial Lawyers Association, and a "Top 100 Litigation Lawyer in the State of New Jersey" by the American Society of Legal Advocates.

Mark Morris

Profile picture for Mark Morris
Mark W. Morris, a senior trial attorney, has been recognized on the Super Lawyers Rising Stars List each year since 2019 and has been named a “Top 40 Under 40 Civil Plaintiff Trial Lawyer” by the National Trial Lawyers Organization since 2019 as well.

Throughout his career, Mark has obtained remarkable settlements and verdicts for his clients, such as a $2 million settlement for a concert patron injured by a stage diver, a $1.325 million settlement for a motorist struck by an intoxicated driver, a $1 million settlement in a negligent security case and a $975,000 settlement in a worksite products liability case. Additionally, he has played a vital role in helping Clark Law Firm P.C. achieve numerous multi-million-dollar settlements and jury verdicts including a jury verdict of $2,579,000 for a construction worker who was injured when he was backed over by a utility truck.

Leading the firm's Consumer Rights Division, Mark has successfully prosecuted state and nationwide consumer class action claims, representing clients against businesses engaging in misleading or fraudulent practices. Notably, he worked on an obsolete motor oil class action that resulted in a $28.5 million settlement for consumers in 2021. Mark has also secured a $1 million consumer fraud class action settlement involving misleading business practices related to the service of process.

With a commitment to all aspects of litigation, Mark has demonstrated success in handling client intake, depositions, motion practice, arbitrations, mediations, and trial. He has won several cases before the Appellate Division and has litigated in both state and federal courts throughout New Jersey and the Southern District of New York.