On June 6, 2021, at approximately 2 in the morning, a crowd of people walked out of a nightclub located on the first floor of a shopping center in Kendall. The group slowly trickled into their vehicles, some lingering behind on the property to snap pictures with their friends in an ominous attempt to memorialize the night. As the last of the partygoers climbed into their cars to leave, unknown individuals emerged from a dark corner of the property, guns in hand, and fired their weapons at the group. Five people were shot, three of whom were fatally injured. On the surface, the tragedy read as far too many others do, but as the details of the case unfolded through our civil litigation strategy, we learned that the nightclub was actually not a nightclub at all. Hookah Inn, which was certified by the county only to operate as a hookah lounge, was instead acting as a bring-your-own-booze nightclub, hosting weekly parties extending well into the early morning hours.

How do you bring the rule of law down on the owners or operators of a property who are committed to bending, avoiding and breaking all of the rules? This is the first question that we ask ourselves when we begin to strategize our negligent security cases that occur at properties like Hookah Inn. Property owners have a duty to employ reasonable security measures to protect people lawfully on their property from reasonably foreseeable criminal activity. With increasing frequency, we are seeing cases where individuals and entities venture into an industry or business despite lacking the training, experience, or even the necessary certificates and licenses.