How Safe Is the Apartment You Want to Rent? Key Questions to Ask a Landlord Before Signing a Lease
A sense of security and safety for you and your family is key to making a house feel like a home.
Unfortunately, many landlords don’t provide, and in some cases aren’t legally required to share, crime and safety information to a potential tenant.
“Along with costs and amenities, tenants should be prepared to ask a variety of questions about safety measures before signing a lease and moving into a new apartment or home” says Michael Haggard. Haggard is the Managing Partner of The Haggard Law Firm (www.haggardlawfirm.com) which has made a mark successfully representing tenants who are injured or killed by someone committing a crime that could have been prevented if the landlord of the property where the crime occurs had taken proper security measures.
Although each negligent security case may bring about different facts or require ingenuity with your strategy, there are certain elements of your case that remain constant. One of those elements is crime statistics. The importance of crime statistics in your case cannot be stated enough. Not only do these statistics help establish notice and foreseeability to the defendants, they are also a treasure trove of information.
With respect to notice and foreseeability, your crime statistics establish what the defendants “knew or should have known” prior to and at the time of subject incident. So what should you request? You begin by requesting the calls for service and all police reports for the subject property. This needs to be done in one request. From there, depending on your jurisdiction, you will order up to a mile radius for the calls for service. Once you receive each respective request, you must synthesize the data. For example, you will detail the violent and non-violent crimes and their frequency on the property. This provides a picture of what type of crime was going on at the property. It provides you with the ability to illustrate to the jury the level of crime occurring and can be used effectively to show that it is an improbability for a defendant to be unaware of the police being called to the property.
In this article, The Haggard Law Firm’s Jason Brenner discusses a variety of topics including why trial attorneys should always employ a philosophy that every case should be prepared to go to trial. He says it is a mindset that many trial attorneys don’t employ.
Brenner is part of the team that recently obtained a $12 million verdict in a wrongful death, negligent security case following a 5 day trial (click to learn more about the case). Click here to learn more about the case
The Truth I Never Knew about Direct and Cross-Examinations
Entering the legal field with the desire to become a trial attorney is a daunting endeavor. There is only one place where a young lawyer can establish himself or herself as a trial attorney—in the courtroom. Trial practice has almost become a misnomer in today’s world. The firm where I have been privileged to practice is made up of an endangered species of the trial attorney. I revel in the “war stories” about them trying a case on Monday and preparing for the next one on Friday. Nowadays, the majority of time spent in court is in motion practice.
The current status of trial practice creates an interesting conflict for young, aspiring attorneys in their attempt to develop trial skills. In the almost six years I have been practicing, I have been trial support on two civil jury trials and second chair on an additional two. The first trial in which I participated as second chair was a stroke of fortune and an eye-opening experience. Once I was in the courtroom in this role, I understood the purpose and importance of direct and cross-examination, but, most important, I understood the difference between direct and cross-examination in discovery and at trial. The primary focus of this article is to illustrate the principles of direct and cross-examination that have been taught to me.
Congratulations to The Haggard Law Firm’s Managing Partner Michael Haggard who was named the recipient of the 2017 Perry Nichols Award.
The Perry Nichols Award was created in 1977 in honor of the visionary who first brought Florida’s leading trial attorneys together to create the Negligence and Compensation Lawyers of Florida, the predecessor to today’s Florida Justice Association. It is the most prestigious award given by our organization and is given to the attorney whose perseverance, commitment, and unmatched dedication to the civil justice system is at the forefront of their lives. The FJA says the award is bestowed upon the attorney who sets the standard for the rest of us to aspire to achieve.
Each Haggard Law Firm has been recognized in the 2018 Best Lawyers in America List. Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Its methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
Congratulations to (listed with practice area category):
Our Managing Partner, Michael Haggard, was also named the Miami area’s 2018 Lawyer of The Year in the Personal Injury Litigation- Plaintiff category. Only one attorney in each category and the geographical area receive this honor.
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If you know of or are a victim of serious crime or have been injured in through no fault of your own, contact the Haggard Law Firm for a free consultation by clicking here or dialing 3054465700
Memorial Day weekend is the traditional start, nationally, to the summer swim season. The Haggard Law Firm is committed to sharing any and all information we can to help keep everyone safe in and around bodies of water.
A new report by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) shows the number of reported fatal child drownings in swimming pools involving children younger than 5—the most vulnerable population—has decreased 17 percent nationwide since 2010. Despite the decrease, fatal and non-fatal child drownings in pools and spas continue to pose a public health challenge across the United States.
Drowning remains the number 1 cause of death among children under the age of 5 in Florida. Parents and caregivers are reminded to follow
Today’s issue of the Daily Business Review includes a Board of Contributors article authored by The Haggard law Firm‘s Jason Brenner. The article, Understanding Your Client: Survivors and the Catastrophically Injured, discusses the challenges to successfully representing and emotionally supporting during the civil litigation process the tragically injured or loved ones of someone who has died.
We are inspired by the strength of our clients, The Stewart Family, as they fight to continue to spread a message of environmental conservation on behalf of their son Rob Stewart.
Here is the story aired on Good Morning America detailing our wrongful death lawsuit filed in this case.
The background check. Examinations of our past seem so common in every corner of our lives, that on that rare occasion where we are not asked to verify our personal information or consent to an examination of it, the transaction seems either charmingly quaint or mildly suspicious. Our criminal history, finances, family relations, utilities, medical history, schooling or employment, to name a few, are routinely brought forth and scrutinized (or verified) as a necessary part of routine personal and business operations.
The ubiquity of the background check has fomented a public expectation that virtually every person we encounter has been screened for one thing or another. Certainly, the priest or teacher is screened for child or sexual related offenses. The Uber driver has been thoroughly vetted for traffic offenses. The apartment manager’s personal finances are in order, such that the proper handling of rents is not in jeopardy.
These expectations, however reasonable, are not subject to uniform regulation and even more rarely are they mandated by law. The inconsistent handling of sex offender regulations helps highlight our misperception of the efficacy and regularity of background checks. Society considers itself tough on sex offenders, and lawmakers fashion themselves as protectors of the children and those most vulnerable. Florida Statute 948.30 is a good example. If a sex crime victim was under the age of 18, the offender cannot work for pay “or as a volunteer at any place where children regularly congregate, including, but not limited to, schools, child care facilities, parks, playgrounds, pet stores, libraries, zoos, theme parks, and malls.”
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