Hurt in an office building? Let's talk about what happened.

If you were hurt and want to know whether a negligent security office building lawyer in Albuquerque can help, this page covers the basics. Negligent security is a claim that asks whether the party controlling a property failed to protect people from a criminal attack that was reasonably foreseeable. In New Mexico, these claims can arise after an assault or robbery at a clinic, office building, or parking structure. Below, you’ll find who may be responsible, what matters most, and what to do next.

What Negligent Security Means at a Clinic or Office Building

Negligent security is a claim against the party that controlled a space where a third party’s attack was foreseeable. The attacker’s own conduct is a separate criminal matter. The civil claim looks at the people and companies that ran the space.

New Mexico law says a landowner must use ordinary care to protect visitors from harm caused by a third party’s foreseeable conduct. That conduct can be innocent, negligent, intentionally tortious, or criminal (UJI 13-1320 NMRA).

Patients and visitors often don’t know who runs security. A clinic may lease its suite, while the owner runs the lobby, entrances, and parking. That split is why these claims look closely at each party’s role.

This page is written for people hurt in these settings:

• Patients attacked in a clinic waiting room or exam area
• Employees hurt at work in an office building or stairwell
• Visitors assaulted or robbed in a parking structure or lobby

Our focus is on injuries in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County.

Who Can Be Responsible: The Owner, Tenant, and Contractor Chain

Several parties can share responsibility, depending on who controlled the place where the attack happened.

• Building owner: Often controls common areas, entrances, lighting, locks, and parking structures, even when a tenant runs the clinic.
• Tenant: A clinic or business may control its own suite, reception area, staff doors, and after-hours access.
• Management company and security contractor: When a manager hires a guard service, camera vendor, or access-control company, the choices each one made can be examined.

Written contracts, maintenance logs, and security decisions help show who controlled what.

Fault can also be split among several defendants. Under NMSA § 41-3A-1, where comparative fault applies, joint and several liability is abolished except as the statute otherwise provides, and each defendant’s liability is several.

What Makes Security Failures Legally Relevant

A security failure matters when it made the attack foreseeable and a reasonable step could have lowered the risk. Foreseeability often comes from facts such as earlier assaults or robberies on the property, tenant or patient complaints about the same area, or requests for more lighting, cameras, or guards.

Security measures that get reviewed can include parking lot lighting, working cameras, controlled entry, monitored access, locked stairwells, and after-hours procedures. Incident logs, complaint files, camera retention settings, and security contracts often matter. Property owners and managers usually hold these records, so they are requested early.

Causation also matters. A proximate cause does not have to be the only cause. Strength depends on each property and each attack, and every case is different.

What to Do and Document After an Attack

Start with medical care, then record what happened while details are fresh. Injuries from attacks, including head trauma, can show up later. Keep every visit note, bill, and referral.

• Report the attack to building management and to police, and get the report number.
• Ask for any incident report in writing.
• Photograph the entrance, lighting, parking level, and any damaged doors, gates, or cameras.
• Write down the date, time, floor, and parking level.
• Collect names and contact details for witnesses and on-duty staff or guards.
• Save texts, emails, and posts that mention earlier problems at the property.

Consider speaking with a lawyer before giving a recorded statement to the property’s insurer or management company.

How a Negligent Security Case Works, Step by Step

A case usually moves from a first consultation to an investigation, a choice of defendants, and then negotiation or a lawsuit.

1. Free consultation: Share the basic facts. Bring medical records, the police report number, and any photos.
2. Investigation: Request property records, identify each party that controlled the premises, and review security contracts and camera retention.
3. Filing decision: Decide which parties to name and file within the deadline that applies. New Mexico’s statute sets a three-year limit for actions for injury to the person or reputation of any person (NMSA § 37-1-8). Other timing rules can apply, so don’t wait.
4. Resolution: Some claims settle through negotiation. Others go to court.

Timelines vary by case, and any estimate depends on the specific facts.

About El Gringo Law and Our Team

El Gringo Law handles negligent security, premises liability, car and trucking accidents, wrongful death, and catastrophic injury claims in New Mexico.

Josh Wood is the lawyer responsible for this page. He is licensed in New Mexico and Arizona.

Our team handles scheduling, records requests, and client updates. Team members are support staff, not lawyers.

Every case is different, so the facts of your property and your attack shape what comes next.

Fees, Costs, and Your Questions

The first consultation is free, confidential, and carries no obligation to continue. If you hire the firm on a contingent fee, a written agreement signed by you will explain how the fee is determined and any expenses you could owe, even if you do not win. New Mexico’s rule on fees provides that a lawyer shall not charge an unreasonable fee or an unreasonable amount for expenses (Rule 16-105 NMRA).

Frequently Asked Questions

Talk With Our Team About Your Attack

If you were hurt in a waiting room, office stairwell, or parking structure, you may have a claim against the party that controlled that space. You can reach out through our contact form, by phone, or by starting a chat. Our team can schedule your first consultation.

Responsible lawyer: Josh Wood, El Gringo Law, elgringolaw.com.