Can I Sue for Being Shot or Stabbed in Newark?

Can I sue for being shot or stabbed in Newark?

Often, yes. If you were shot or stabbed on a Newark property — an apartment complex, bar or nightclub, parking garage, store, hotel, or transit stop — and the owner failed to provide the reasonable security a foreseeable risk called for, New Jersey law may let you hold that owner financially responsible through a negligent-security claim. You are not suing for the crime itself; you are suing the property owner for the security failures that made a foreseeable attack possible. This is separate from any criminal case against the attacker.

Newark negligent-security law — the short version

Newark cases are governed by New Jersey law. New Jersey weighs the totality of the circumstances — neighborhood crime, proximity, and the nature of the premises — not just prior identical crimes (Clohesy). A negligent-security lawsuit here is generally filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Essex County (Essex County). For the full New Jersey standard — deadlines, how fault is shared, and what you can recover — see our New Jersey negligent security page.

Public safety in Newark

Newark is New Jersey’s largest city and has posted a sustained, multi-year decline in violent crime, reporting in 2025 its fewest homicides since 1953 along with sizable drops in robberies and assaults. Its violent-crime rate still runs above national averages off that historically high base. A negligent-security claim depends on the documented history of prior incidents at the particular property.

Where these cases happen in Newark

In Newark, these claims commonly arise in the downtown and Central Business District and the transit corridor around Newark Penn Station, in the downtown arts and Prudential Center venue district, and in the Ironbound dining-and-nightlife district. Common property types are apartment complexes and multi-family housing, bars and nightclubs and other liquor-licensed venues, parking lots and garages near transit and event venues, transit stations, convenience stores and gas stations, and hotels.

Good to know in Newark

A Newark negligent-security case is filed in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Essex County, in downtown Newark. Newark’s municipal code also imposes video-surveillance and footage-retention duties on certain housing buildings, and the city’s public camera network can supply evidence — both of which can matter to the prior-incident history a negligent-security case depends on.

Deadlines for a Newark case

• Negligence / personal injury: generally two years from the date of the incident from the date of the incident.
• Wrongful death: generally two years from the date of death.

New Jersey law allows a wrongful-death claim to be brought at any time when the death resulted from a murder or manslaughter for which the offender is convicted — but for all other cases the two-year deadline is strict, so confirm your date quickly. Surveillance footage and other evidence disappear quickly, so it is important to act fast.

Why Newark victims choose The Haggard Law Firm

The firm has handled nearly 500 negligent-security cases nationwide and secured the largest negligent-security verdict in U.S. history ($102.7 million). We help Newark crime victims and their families with no fee unless we win.

How we handle a New Jersey case — working with local counsel

The Haggard Law Firm is based in Coral Gables, Florida, and Michael A. Haggard is licensed to practice law in Florida. Mr. Haggard is not licensed in New Jersey. Negligent security and crime-victim litigation is the firm’s core focus, and because of the national reputation the firm has built in this specific area, Mr. Haggard regularly works on New Jersey cases as co-counsel with a locally licensed New Jersey attorney, seeking admission pro hac vice (for the individual case) where the court’s rules permit. Any New Jersey matter would be handled together with local counsel admitted in New Jersey.

If you were shot, stabbed, or lost a loved one to a preventable crime in New Jersey, you can still reach out to us directly. We will review your case for free and, where appropriate, associate with a qualified New Jersey attorney to pursue it.

This page is attorney advertising and general information only; it is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Michael A. Haggard is licensed in Florida. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.