Memphis Apartment Shooting Victim Attorney

Memphis Apartment Shooting Victim Lawyer

Every year, thousands of people across the United States are traumatized by shootings in apartment complexes. While some shootings may result in injuries and others just cause property damage, these situations leave a lasting impact on everyone involved and can change their lives forever. If you were a victim of an apartment shooting here in Memphis, don’t wait to talk to our Memphis crime victim lawyers to learn how you can obtain compensation for your suffering.

You deserve to have your story heard and have legal assistance to make sure that happens. See how our team can help you take legal action after an apartment shooting.

Memphis Lawyers Dedicated to protecting your rights and a BIG SETTLEMENT!

No one should be afraid to go to sleep at night because they’re worried about their safety. At the Bailey & Bailey Law Firm, we do everything in our power to protect our clients and give them hope for a better future. We understand how traumatizing a shooting may be especially in your apartment, which is why we’re here to provide you with the legal support you need to get through it.

Our adept lawyers share decades of legal experience, which helps us build strong cases and recover the damages our clients deserve. Whether you were injured or traumatized, or if your loved one lost their life in an apartment shooting, our attorneys are prepared to represent you today. Contact Bailey & Bailey Law Firm if you or someone you love was a victim of an apartment shooting in Memphis, TN.

Understanding Liability in a Memphis Apartment Shooting Claim

Apartment shootings are horrifying invasions of personal space that can harm an entire complex of people. While they will always be unpredictable, it’s important that precautions are taken to help prevent these situations whenever possible. In fact, many apartment shootings that occur in Tennessee take place because the complex was unsafe to begin with.

Because firearm-related deaths are only continuing to increase throughout the state, it’s important that property owners take precautions to protect their buildings and keep their tenants safe. While it’s clearly not an owner’s fault that a shooting took place, they may be held liable if they were ignoring basic safety precautions. This means that, if you were harmed in an apartment shooting, you may be able to file a claim against your complex owner in Memphis or Shelby County court.

The following parties may be held liable in court after a Memphis apartment shooting:

• Your apartment complex owner
• Negligent management and security
• The shooters
• Guilty parties that helped the shooter

Unsafe Conditions That Can Lead to Dangerous Apartment Complexes

When a complex owner, their management, or their security fail to do their job, this can lead to an entire apartment building becoming unsafe. As a property owner, your landlord has to follow basic precautions, ranging from keeping your apartment well-lit to repairing broken gates and fences. This is referred to as their “Reasonable Duty of Care.” The following conditions can create dangerous situations when ignored, potentially leading to apartment shootings in Memphis:

Inadequate or Broken Locks and Gates

Every apartment complex is built differently. Some have gates that you have to enter before you can park, while others have multiple, locked front doors to keep tenants safe. When a property owner fails to fix things like a broken lock or gate, this can immediately put you and your building at risk. Inadequate protection of a building can lead to easy access for loiterers, criminals, and other people who shouldn’t be there.

Poorly Lit Common Areas

Tennessee requires landlords to keep their properties’ entryways, parking lots, and common areas well-lit. This is to not only protect tenants from falling or hurting themselves in the dark but also to deter suspicious individuals who like to act under the cover of darkness. The front of your building, your parking lot, any hallways, and any shared common areas should all be illuminated by your landlord. If they aren’t, you should request for them to be fixed immediately.

Inadequate or Negligent Security

Many apartment complexes employ a security team to offer an extra level of protection to their tenants. However, having a security team in place doesn’t always mean that the building is safe. Unfortunately, many complexes have broken security cameras that go unfixed, or they have negligent security staff that lets anyone into the building. This level of inadequate security is extremely dangerous, especially if you live in a popular city like Memphis.

Broken Doors and Windows

Broken doors, broken windows, and poorly maintained buildings often attract dangerous individuals. In Tennessee, it is your landlord’s legal duty to help you maintain an apartment that you rent from them in addition to the complex that it’s in. When they ignore things like broken windows and doors, they ultimately put you more at risk of facing dangerous circumstances like break-ins or shootings.

Frequent Theft or Break-In Attempts

If your building experiences frequent break-ins or attempts to do so, this is already a sign of inadequate management. If your reports of these break-ins are ignored, whether by security or your landlord, they can then be held liable if something bad happens to you. It is their responsibility to not only acknowledge your reports but to help protect you, your apartment, and the building.

Details to Consider in a Memphis Apartment Shooting Claim

After being involved in any kind of shooting, your priorities should be contacting the police and seeking medical care. If you’re able to do so in this process, try to remember any important details that may be helpful later.

Once the situation has resolved and you have begun your healing process, you should then go back and try to detail the situation that occurred. This involves asking yourself a variety of questions, all of which can help you build a valid case to get the compensation you need. Critical details that you should consider for your Memphis injury claim include:

• Were you injured?
• What was the extent of any injury you suffered?
• Did your loved one lose their life?
• Was your apartment or any of your property damaged during the shooting?
• Does your apartment have adequate security?
• Were security cameras and gates working as they should?
• Have you brought up security issues to your landlord before?
• Did you see the shooter?
• Was there more than one shooter?
• Did anyone in the apartment have a relationship with the shooter?
• How did the shooter get inside?

How to File a Claim After a Shooting Occurs in Your Memphis Apartment

If you’re ready to take legal action against those who are liable for your suffering, the Bailey & Bailey Law Firm is prepared to guide you every step of the way. Filing an injury claim may feel complicated, but with the right guidance, you’ll get through it quickly. Follow these steps to file a claim against any liable parties:

1. Retain a Lawyer

Because any kind of shooting is very different from the average personal injury case, it’s critical that you find a lawyer who has experience with both personal injury and criminal law. At the Bailey & Bailey Law Firm, our lawyers have spent decades protecting clients in personal injury and criminal cases. We know that being involved in an apartment shooting is a unique, terrifying experience, and our team is ready to help you file a claim to get the help you need.

2. Collect Evidence That Demonstrates Your Case

Once you have chosen a skilled lawyer, you’ll then need to collect a variety of documents that can back your claim of the shooting. This can include anything from medical bills to security camera footage as long as it proves that you were impacted by a shooting at your apartment. Your attorney can help you better understand what evidence works for your claim, as that can be different depending on your unique situation.

3. Fill Out the Proper Paperwork With Your Lawyer

While you gather evidence, you can then begin filling out the various forms that come with filing a legal claim in Tennessee. If you are trying to hold your landlord accountable, you may need to fill out different paperwork than someone who is trying to file against the actual shooter. Also, it’s important to note that a shooting is also legally considered a type of assault. This may require even more paperwork to detail your injuries and the situation.

4. File Your Claim and Wait for a Response

After you and your lawyer are sure that all your paperwork is correct, you can file your claim with your local Memphis or Shelby County court. It will then take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks for the court to review your case. If it is approved, the court will schedule an initial hearing, where you can attempt to resolve the case before it goes to trial. If no resolutions are made in your initial hearing, the claim will most likely continue to trial, where a judge will make the final decision.

How Can a Memphis Lawyer Help With a Case Like This?

After being involved in something as frightening as a shooting, it’s imperative that you hire legal help that you can depend on. Whether you were injured or you lost a loved one, your first step after an apartment shooting should be taking care of yourself. This means that you need to be able to trust your attorney to handle the varying legal details of your case so that you can begin to heal.

The Bailey & Bailey Law Firm has plenty of experience with cases involving firearm assaults. We understand that these situations leave a lasting impact on every victim, which is why we offer legal services for every aspect of the process. Our team can not only assist you in collecting evidence and filing a claim, but we can also represent you in hearings and in the trial, working for the compensation that you need to recover from a frightening experience.

If you choose to work with the Bailey & Bailey Law Firm, you can expect:

• Compassionate support while you get through difficult times
• Assistance with understanding the legal details of your case
• Guidance through legal paperwork and proceedings
• Help with gathering evidence and keeping track of the expenses that you collected
• Honest, efficient communication that keeps you updated
• Legal services that prioritize you and your case’s needs
• Skilled representation during trials and hearings

What Damages Can Be Recovered for Victims of Apartment Complex Shootings?

When you’re injured by someone else, whether purposeful or not, you have the right to file a claim that allows you to request damages. The term “damages” refers to the varying remedies that may be awarded to the injured victim. In most cases, damages are some form of financial compensation. After being involved in a Memphis apartment shooting, you may be able to receive one or more of the following damages by filing a claim:

Coverage of Emergency Expenses

Being shot can result in serious injuries and even permanent damage to the victim’s body and mind. After being shot, the victim will need to seek emergency medical aid right away. Although they must pay these expenses at the time of their injury or have them billed, any victim of an apartment shooting has the right to request damages to cover their emergency medical bills, whether from their property owner or the assailant of the crime.

Medical Bill Coverage

Injuries often require a great deal of medical attention over a long period of time. Simply put, this means that an injured victim’s emergency medical bills are not the only expenses they’re collecting. If you received an injury in an apartment shooting that now causes you to go to the doctor frequently, go to therapy, or take expensive medicine, you and your lawyer can fight for compensation to cover your expenses. The following are common medical bills that can be covered:

• Doctor’s appointments
• Tests, scans, and procedures ordered by your doctor
• Physical therapy
• Any form of treatment that aids in your wellness, ranging from medications to hospital visits
• At-home care

Lost Wages

Whether you were injured, your property was damaged, or you were simply traumatized, an apartment shooting can often cause victims to miss work while they heal. Unfortunately, most people cannot afford to miss work, even when it’s for their own health. If you were injured or impacted by an apartment shooting that resulted in you having to miss work, you may be able to receive lost wages if your claim is successful.

Property Damages

Even when no one is injured in an apartment shooting, the building itself can be impaired. In some cases, victims of apartment complex shootings have bullets go through their doors, pipes, or windows. When property damages occur because your apartment is unsafe, it’s important to remember that your landlord is liable. Don’t hesitate to request compensation or aid to fix or replace the property you lost. It’s also their duty to repair common spaces in the building.

Compensation for Emotional Distress

Traumatic events like shootings can harm your mental health just as much as your physical health. This is because these kinds of situations can cause extreme emotional distress. For many people who experienced a shooting in their own apartment, being able to sleep or be comfortable in their home is nearly impossible. If you were traumatized and are now suffering emotionally because of a Memphis apartment shooting, make sure that your story is heard by filing a claim.

What Happens If Your Loved One Dies in an Apartment Shooting in Tennessee?

Unfortunately, many apartment shootings result in fatalities. If you lost an innocent loved one to a shooting in Tennessee, this is legally considered a “wrongful death.” Wrongful death claims are different from assault and injury claims because they address the needs of the victim’s family who were left behind, rather than the victims themselves.

When someone you love passes away from illegal or negligent behavior, grieving can be painful and complicated. This makes trying to handle the financial and administrative aspects of their death even more challenging. Wrongful death claims allow family members who are dealing with the loss of their loved one to request damages, which can help them cover expenses as they process their grief. Common damages awarded in Memphis wrongful death claims include:

• Coverage of all medical bills before the victim passed away
• Coverage of all funeral costs
• Compensation for the pain and suffering of the family who was left behind as well as the victim who was hurt
• Coverage of lost wages and other benefits that would’ve come from the victim having a job

The Bailey & Bailey Law Firm: A Legal Team You Can Trust

There’s no easy way to process something like a shooting in your own home. While healing may take some time, it’s important that you get the help you need as you do so. At the Bailey & Bailey Law Firm, we’re committed to helping victims of apartment shootings file successful claims. We understand that these scenarios cause immense harm and are devoted to helping our clients however we can.

If you were a victim of an apartment shooting in Memphis, contact the Bailey & Bailey Law Firm today and schedule your initial consultation with us to learn more.