Atlanta Crime Victim Lawyers

It is very important to find out all of the crime and dangerous activity that has happened at the location. Most customers have no idea whether the business is safe; they just figure (and reasonably so) that it is. It is the business owner or occupier that should know about everything that has happened at their location. After all, it is their business.

One way to determine the amount and types of prior crime is to obtain a crime grid from the police. Crime grids show crimes that were reported to police at a specific location. This is what a crime grid typically looks like:

The most important types of crimes are the ones that are similar to the crime that injured you: homicides, aggravated assaults with a weapon, gun, or knife, assaults, batteries, and discharge of firearms.

The information Mike Rafi learns from witnesses and the crime grid will help him determine if there were any other previous victims. If there are, the next step is to find and speak with those victims, and if necessary, ask them to testify.

The same goes for former employees. Many times, employees leave because they wanted to do the right thing like increase security, the owner refused, and so the employee got fed up and left. Many former employees are willing to speak freely and openly about their former employer or things that happened at the location.

In one case, Mike Rafi found a woman who worked as a leasing agent at an apartment complex. Mike found the former employee, told her about his client who had been shot six times, and asked her to testify about the complex, the owner, and prior crimes. The former employee agreed to testify. In this photo, she is testifying about documents that may have been destroyed by the owner. The big stack of papers in the middle and the stack on the left together are the amount of internal documents about safety she said should have existed – the stack on the right is what the owner said he had.

Mike spends a tremendous amount of time searching for and speaking with former victims and employees. That’s why Mike’s clients get better results.

Mike has a network of experts that he relies on and that juries trust. In crime victim cases, expert witnesses typically determine:

• 1. If crime was foreseeable, meaning whether crime could be reasonably anticipated by the landowner.
• 2. If the landowner used reasonable security measures given the foreseeability of crime.

Experts rely on the information provided to them by the attorney, so Mike’s comprehensive investigations ensure experts get the information they need.

Mike helps crime victims win their cases by preparing every case for trial. Lawyers who assume they will settle cases are forced to play catch-up once settlement negotiations fail – this puts the lawyer, and in turn, the client’s chance at winning at a severe damage.

As time goes on, gathering facts becomes more difficult because witnesses move or forget things. To be successful at trial, Mike Rafi knows that preparation and planning start from the moment he begins working on the case.

It is very important to find out all of the crime and dangerous activity that has happened at the location. Most customers have no idea whether the business is safe; they just figure (and reasonably so) that it is. It is the business owner or occupier that should know about everything that has happened at their location. After all, it is their business.

One way to determine the amount and types of prior crime is to obtain a crime grid from the police. Crime grids show crimes that were reported to police at a specific location. This is what a crime grid typically looks like:

Even if you had the complex change exterior locks, consider installing a deadbolt and door-chain. A deadbolt is more secure than a standard lock to pick because the deadbolt will only open by rotating the lock cylinder, while a standard lock is controlled by a spring bolt that can be opened by applying force to it.

A door-chain, like a deadbolt, is an added security measure that lets you identify and talk to visitors without completely unlocking and opening your door.

Sliding doors are a great feature in an apartment but can be an entry point for criminals if improperly manufactured or installed. Many sliding doors have cheap or faulty locks and can be forced off their tracks with relatively little force.

Buy and use a security bar that prevents a sliding door from being opened from the outside – these bars can attach to the door itself or sit on the track.

Blinds prevent would-be criminals from window shopping at your apartment. Install blinds that will completely block people outside of your apartment from seeing inside, and make sure you close your blinds when you leave your apartment.

Studies show criminals try to determine if an apartment they are targeting has a security system before breaking in and if so, they will look for an easier target. In the past, the cost of installing a security system made it difficult for apartment renters to do so, but now, many companies have free installs.

Newer apartments may even have security systems already installed, so all you have to do is activate the system.