Negligent Security Attorney in Schuylkill County, PA

Over 100 Years Fighting for Pennsylvanians Harmed on Dangerous Property

When a property owner’s failure to maintain reasonable security allows a criminal act to injure you, that’s not just bad luck. It could be the grounds of a premises liability claim. A negligent security case holds the property owner accountable for the foreseeable harm that follows when they cut corners on lighting, access controls, or staffing. 

At Handler, Henning & Rosenberg LLC, we represent Schuylkill County residents who have been harmed on someone else’s property, and we’ve been doing this work since 1922. We are located right here in Schuylkill County, and our attorneys and staff live and work in this area. We’re not a distant, impersonal firm taking on a case from afar; we're your neighbors, and we care about making our communities safer for all.

How Pennsylvania Negligent Security Law Works

Property owners in Pennsylvania have a legal duty to take reasonable steps to protect lawful visitors from foreseeable criminal acts. In simple terms: property owners are supposed to keep you safe. When they fail that duty and someone is injured, a negligent security civil claim may arise. 

Proving Negligent Security

A negligent security case isn't about blaming someone else for the harm that was done to you; it's about holding property owners accountable when their negligence contributes to an assault that never should have happened. But these claims are very complex. 

To succeed, you (or your legal team) will generally have to prove that:

1. The owner had a duty to provide reasonable security;
2. They breached this duty, and;
3. The breach caused your injury.

“Foreseeability” is the central question courts examine. A property’s documented crime history, prior police reports for the location, and the surrounding area’s incident record all factor into whether the attack was something a reasonable owner should have anticipated. Common failures that support these claims include inadequate lighting, missing or non-functional surveillance cameras, untrained or absent security personnel, and unsecured entrances.

One important point: a negligent security civil claim moves forward independently of any criminal case. A property owner can be held liable even if the person who attacked you is never charged or convicted.

Where Negligent Security Incidents Most Often Occur

These claims arise across a wide range of property types, but they tend to occur more often in specific areas. 

Several locations come up repeatedly in our cases:

• Apartment Complexes: Broken locks, dim hallways, and absent security patrols create dangerous conditions for residents and guests. When a landlord ignores known vulnerabilities, the risk of assault or robbery increases significantly.
• Shopping Centers and Parking Garages: Customers and workers in these spaces rely on functional surveillance and adequate lighting. Non-working cameras, whether broken or fake, offer no real protection and can be central evidence in a claim.
• Bars and Nightclubs: Without proper security staff and crowd management, fights and assaults injure bystanders who had no part in starting the confrontation. Owners who fail to staff appropriately for the venue’s risk level may be liable for the resulting harm.

We’ve handled cases where a property appeared to have adequate security on the surface, but cameras turned out to be non-functional or guards lacked any meaningful training. Appearances don’t determine liability. The facts do.

Our Investigative Approach to Negligent Security Claims

Proving foreseeability requires evidence, but that evidence can disappears fast. Surveillance footage often gets overwritten in a matter of hours or days. Witnesses’ recollections fade and become less reliable over time. Security logs may get lost. This is why our firm keeps a full-time, in-house investigator whose job is finding out exactly what happened and who is to blame. This allows us to begin our investigation into what happened from the very outset of your claim, moving quickly to preserve critical evidence before it disappears.

Our investigator’s work allows us to commit more resources to building a strong case rather than scrambling to reconstruct a scene weeks later. We also team up with security professionals who can testify to what a property owner should have done and where they fell short. That kind of expert testimony can make a significant difference when the defense argues the security measures in place were sufficient.

Our attorneys travel statewide to meet clients at home or in the hospital when getting to an office isn’t realistic. If you’re recovering from a serious injury in Schuylkill County, you don’t need to worry about getting to us; we'll come to you.

Pennsylvania Deadlines & Comparative Fault Rules

Under 42 Pa. Cons. Stat. § 5524, Pennsylvania’s statute of limitations for personal injury claims, including negligent security, is generally two years from the date of the incident. Missing that deadline typically ends the claim. Pennsylvania also follows a modified comparative negligence rule: a plaintiff found more than 50 percent responsible for their own harm generally can’t recover damages from the property owner. A finding below that threshold reduces the recovery proportionally, rather than eliminating it.

Handler, Henning & Rosenberg LLC’s Record in Central Pennsylvania

Since 1922, our firm has helped more than 40,000 clients across Central Pennsylvania. We’ve secured million-dollar results for injured workers and accident victims and have recovered tens of millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements. Handler, Henning & Rosenberg LLC has been included in Best Lawyers® and ranked in Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms,” and multiple attorneys on our team have been selected to the Super Lawyers list. Those recognitions reflect a long record of serious work and real results for the people we serve.

When you’re deciding whether to pursue a negligent security claim, the firm you hire matters. We bring the investigative resources, the legal knowledge, and the track record to build a claim that can go the distance.

Talk to a Negligent Security Lawyer in Schuylkill County

If you were harmed because a property owner failed to provide reasonable security, you may have a claim worth pursuing. Contact Handler, Henning & Rosenberg LLC to go over what happened. There are no upfront costs, and you pay nothing at all unless we win. Our Schuylkill County office serves clients throughout the region, and our attorneys can come to you if needed.