The Haggard Law Firm’s Michael Haggard and Adam Finkel obtained a $5.25 Million settlement in a negligent security wrongful death and negligent security injury case. Per terms of the settlement, the names of the parties involved must remain confidential.
With the pandemic shutting businesses down, on March 22, 2020, a restaurant employee left his home in Atlanta to visit his family in Miami. Spending the weekend catching up with his older brother, the two of them were hanging out with a friend in an apartment complex they used to live. Listening to music, having a few drinks and laughs, the men stayed in the hallway in front of a friend’s apartment, when unknown men appeared out of nowhere and opened fire. Ultimately, the older brother from Miami was killed. The younger sibling from Atlanta was struck in the leg, and seriously injured.
Rushed to the hospital to undergo three surgeries, and forced to spend the next year of his life on his sister’s couch until he was well enough to return to Atlanta, the younger sibling’s pain paled in comparison to the pain left in the hearts of his two nieces and his youngest nephew that lost their father. Now, over two years later, the shooter(s) still remain free.
In their pursuit of justice, The Haggard Law Firm filed a lawsuit against the property owners and management company highlighting that none of the access control gates were working, and that there was unfettered access into the complex by criminals, The Haggard Law Firm argued that this negligent property ownership and management provided the shooters with the opportunity to commit these heinous crimes. On the other hand, the property owners and management company highlighted that few complexes in the area were gated communities, and in fact, their complex had significantly less crime than their neighbors. For these reasons, they argued that their management and ownership of the property were entirely reasonable. Instead, they blamed the shooting on the brothers and argued that they were targeted specifically by the shooters. In support of this theory, they emphasized that the entire shooting happened in the blink of an eye, and no one was robbed.
Ultimately, however, The Haggard Law Firm and the property owners and management company entered into a $5.25 Million Dollar confidential settlement
