William Sabinson and Michael Balducci, of the West Palm Beach office, obtained a Final Summary Judgment in a negligent security action on behalf of the owner/landlord of an industrial plaza. The case involved an attack by a third-party assailant on an elderly Plaintiff who, with his wife, leased a commercial unit within the plaza. The assailant was the boyfriend of a woman who owned a beauty supply company that rented space next door to the Plaintiff. During the months leading up to the incident, the landlord received a number of calls from the Co-Defendant, complaining of a baby crying in the Plaintiff’s unit. During the days leading up to the incident, the Plaintiff argued with the Co-Defendant about the complaints. Co-Defendant summoned the police the following morning to intervene. Shortly after the police left, the assailant barged in to the Plaintiff’s unit and proceeded to assault, choke, and slam the Plaintiff to the ground several times, also threatening to kill him. The assailant was subsequently arrested and convicted on felony
assault charges.

At the hearing, William argued to the Court that this attack was not reasonably foreseeable to the landlord, as a matter of law, because a) it was sudden and specifically targeted the Plaintiff, and b) no reasonable juror could conclude that the landlord should have expected a disagreement about noise from a crying baby to escalate to violence. The Judge was persuaded and entered Final Summary Judgment in the landlord’s favor.