Millions of victims are injured or killed due to violent crime every year. All too often, these victims and their families aren’t served by the criminal justice system. Despite recent progress, criminal prosecutors and courts are still focused more on punishing offenders than supporting victims.

There may be another option. Few victims understand their legal rights under the civil justice system, where private individuals are allowed to pursue financial compensation on their own behalf. Thousands of victims and families may be eligible to file a private civil lawsuit, seeking valuable compensation from both criminal offenders and negligent third-party property owners who allowed the crime to occur.

Every day, our experienced attorneys help crime victims and their families pursue justice, seeking to treat every case as our own.

Our crime litigation team is led by Brian Kent, Esq. A former prosecutor in the Sex Crimes Unit of the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office, Brian brings a unique understanding of the criminal justice process into service for our clients. His experience and knowledge are invaluable to ensuring that each of our clients is provided with exceptional representation. Over 15 years of civil legal experience, Brian and our team have helped numerous victims secure financial compensation.

Brian is joined in his efforts by Jeff Laffey and Paul Bucci, co-founders of Laffey, Bucci & Kent, a plaintiffs’ law firm based in Philadelphia. Together, Brian, Jeff and Paul have recovered more than $100 million in compensation for injury victims and their families.

Many crime victims will never be able to secure the justice promised by the criminal justice system. Thousands of criminal offenders go free every day. Prosecutors decline to press charges. Many crimes are never reported to the authorities. The civil justice system offers a solution for many of the victims who are failed, for whatever reason, by the criminal justice system.

Civil lawsuits take place in parallel to criminal justice proceedings, but through the civil justice system, victims and their loved ones can take full control over their legal cases. While criminal prosecutors have numerous considerations to take into account, our experienced attorneys answer to you and you alone. The focus is always on supporting your recovery, while building a strong foundation for your family’s future.

In pursuing legal action, most victims and families have two options:

• file suit against the criminal offender
• file suit against a negligent third-party

For obvious reasons, pursuing a criminal offender in court can be difficult. Many people who commit violent crimes are never identified. Even with identification, and a criminal court’s conviction, a large proportion of criminal offenders just don’t have the financial resources to make good on a civil judgment.

State laws offer a different option. Instead of (or in addition to) filing suit against the offender, some victims may be able to pursue compensation from a property owner whose negligence allowed the crime to occur. Every property owner in the nation has a legal obligation to provide guests, customers and residents with a reasonable degree of security. Property owners who fail to do so can be held accountable for injuries that result from their carelessness.