Los Angeles Violent Crimes Attorney

If you were hurt in an assault, shooting, robbery, sexual assault or other violent crime in Los Angeles, more than one legal process may apply to you. They run separately, and each one works differently:

• The criminal case. Police investigate, and a prosecutor decides whether to file charges. The prosecutor represents the People of the State of California, not you personally.
• Victim compensation. The California Victim Compensation Board (CalVCB) may reimburse certain crime-related expenses, such as medical care and counseling.
• Criminal restitution. If someone is convicted, the criminal court generally orders that person to repay the victim’s losses.
• A civil claim. You may be able to sue the person who hurt you for money damages. In some cases, a property owner, business or employer can also be sued, but only when its own conduct gives a legal basis for it.

People often assume these paths depend on each other. A civil claim does not always require an arrest or a conviction. And an arrest or conviction does not make a landlord, business or employer liable. A claim against a third party needs its own legal basis and its own evidence.

If you are in danger right now, call 911. A law firm is not an emergency service.

Saeedian Law Group represents crime victims in civil injury and wrongful death claims. The firm does not prosecute the criminal case and has no say in charging decisions. Attorney Michael Saeedian has practiced law in California since 2009. If you want to talk through your options, Saeedian Law Group offers a free, no-obligation consultation.

Types of Violent Crime Cases Our Attorneys Handle

Violent crimes happen in parking lots, apartment buildings, bars, hotels, stores and private homes. Saeedian Law Group handles civil claims for people injured in:

• Assault and battery
• Shootings and other firearm violence
• Stabbings and knife attacks
• Robbery-related injuries
• Domestic violence injuries
• Sexual assault
• Assaults where inadequate security may have played a part
• Fatal attacks (wrongful death and survival claims)

Empathetic Attorneys Providing Strategic Legal Counsel for Crime Victims

Cases involving injuries from crimes can draw public attention. The media may have covered what happened to you, and you may have concerns about your privacy and safety. Talking about a traumatic event is hard, too. Our attorneys understand how sensitive these cases are, and you can share details at a pace that feels manageable.

Within our professional and ethical obligations, we take steps to protect your privacy and your family’s, and to limit media and public exposure where we can. That leaves more room for you to focus on healing, physically and emotionally.

Is a Civil Claim Different From the Criminal Case?

Yes. A prosecutor brings the criminal case on behalf of the State of California to decide guilt and punishment. You have rights in that process under California’s Victims’ Bill of Rights (Marsy’s Law), but you don’t control it, and neither does a private law firm.

A civil claim is a separate lawsuit that you bring. Its purpose is to compensate you for harm. The standard of proof is generally a preponderance of the evidence, meaning more likely than not, rather than proof beyond a reasonable doubt (Evidence Code § 115). The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office notes that victims can file a civil lawsuit whether or not a criminal case was filed or anyone was convicted. The reverse holds too: criminal charges do not mean a civil claim will succeed. The civil case has to be proven on its own evidence, and it can include defendants other than the attacker.

Restitution, CalVCB Benefits and Civil Damages Are Not the Same

Criminal restitution is ordered by the criminal court against a person who is convicted, and it generally covers economic losses such as medical bills and lost wages. CalVCB benefits come from a state program and reimburse specific expenses up to program limits. Civil damages are awarded in a lawsuit and can include losses neither of the others pays for, such as pain and suffering. They can overlap, so the law prevents double recovery. Restitution actually collected is credited against a civil judgment for the same losses (Penal Code § 1202.4(j)), and CalVCB must be repaid if a later recovery covers expenses it already paid.

California Victim Compensation Board (CalVCB) Benefits

The California Victim Compensation Board (CalVCB) runs a state program that reimburses certain expenses caused by violent crime. It is not a lawsuit, and it does not pay for pain and suffering. It pays for specific out-of-pocket losses up to program limits, currently a maximum of $70,000. CalVCB is a payer of last resort. Applicants are expected to use insurance and other sources first, and CalVCB has to be repaid if a later source, such as a civil recovery, covers the same expenses. Victims of assault, sexual assault, domestic violence, human trafficking and other qualifying crimes may be eligible, along with some family members.

Depending on the program rules and limits, covered expenses can include:

• Medical and dental treatment
• Mental health treatment or counseling
• Lost income, or lost support for dependents
• Relocation
• Funeral and burial
• Crime scene cleanup
• Home security

None of these is automatic. Each expense has to qualify, and several have their own caps. Personal property losses generally are not covered, apart from medically necessary items like eyeglasses or hearing aids (CalVCB: what is covered).

How Long Do You Have to Apply to CalVCB?

An application generally must be filed within 7 years of the crime, 7 years after the victim turns 21, or 7 years after the victim knew or reasonably should have discovered that the injury came from the crime, whichever is latest (Government Code § 13953). The Board may extend that deadline for good cause. CalVCB asks for a Late Consideration Form in those cases, and approval is at the Board’s discretion.

Do You Have to Cooperate With Law Enforcement?

Generally yes, but the standard is reasonable cooperation. CalVCB can deny an application if the victim failed to cooperate reasonably with law enforcement, and it has to consider the victim’s age, physical condition, psychological state, cultural or language barriers, and any reasonable fear of retaliation (Government Code § 13956). Survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking have added protections. A domestic violence survivor’s conduct with police at the scene can’t be the basis for finding non-cooperation, and a delay in reporting one of those crimes is not, by itself, a failure to cooperate. Those claims also don’t require a police report; medical or mental health records, a restraining order or a sexual assault exam can be used instead.

You can apply online or on paper, and a victim advocate can help you file (how CalVCB compensation works). You don’t need a lawyer to apply. If you also have a civil claim, a lawyer can help make sure any CalVCB repayment is accounted for.

Los Angeles County Resources for Crime Victims

Who May Be Civilly Liable After a Violent Crime?

Depending on the evidence, a civil claim may name one or more of these:

• The person who committed the attack
• A property owner
• A landlord or property management company
• A business that runs the property, such as a bar, hotel, store or parking operator
• An employer
• A private security company hired to protect the property
• Another person or entity whose own conduct creates a legal basis for liability

None of them is liable just because a crime happened on its property or involved its employee. Each claim has its own legal elements, and those elements differ from one defendant to the next.

Claims Against the Attacker

The most direct claim is against the person who caused the harm. Assault, battery and sexual battery are intentional torts: the claim rests on the attacker’s own deliberate conduct (CACI 1300 and 1301; Civil Code § 1708.5). The harder problem is often collecting. Many attackers have few assets, and liability insurance generally does not cover a policyholder’s own willful acts (Insurance Code § 533).

Claims Against a Property Owner, Landlord or Business

A business or landlord generally has to use reasonable care to protect patrons or tenants from another person’s criminal conduct when that conduct can reasonably be anticipated (CACI 1005). That duty has limits. Property owners are not required to prevent all crime, and California does not treat them as insurers of everyone’s safety. Whether an owner or operator can be held responsible usually depends on:

• Who controlled the property, or the part of it where the attack happened
• Whether the crime was foreseeable, which often turns on prior similar incidents
• Which security measure should allegedly have been in place, and how costly or burdensome it would have been
• The condition of the security that actually existed at the time
• Whether the owner’s conduct fell below reasonable care
• Whether that failure actually caused the injury

A broken gate, a burned-out light, missing cameras or the absence of guards are facts to look at. None of them proves negligence by itself. The California Supreme Court requires a high degree of foreseeability before an owner must hire security guards, and it usually looks for prior similar violent incidents on the property (Ann M. v. Pacific Plaza Shopping Center (1993) 6 Cal.4th 666). Simpler, cheaper measures can be required on a lesser showing (Delgado v. Trax Bar & Grill (2005) 36 Cal.4th 224). The victim also has to show, with real evidence rather than speculation, that the security failure caused the harm (Saelzler v. Advanced Group 400 (2001) 25 Cal.4th 763).

These are often called negligent security claims. Our page on negligent security claims in California explains foreseeability, prior incidents and causation in more depth. If you were attacked where you live or where you were staying, our pages on apartment injury claims and hotel injury claims cover those settings.

Premises liability claims can be complex, and the sooner you speak to an attorney, the more time there is to investigate and gather information before it is lost.

Employer Liability

An employer can be responsible for an employee’s assault in some situations, but not automatically. Under respondeat superior, an employer may be liable when the attack grew out of the job itself, such as a risk the work created. An attack driven by personal malice that has nothing to do with the job usually falls outside that rule (Lisa M. v. Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital (1995) 12 Cal.4th 291). Separately, an employer can be liable for its own negligence in hiring, supervising or keeping an employee it knew or should have known was dangerous (CACI 426). If a business kept a staff member on the job after complaints of violence and that employee then assaulted a customer, a negligent retention claim may be worth examining.

Claims Involving Police or Other Public Agencies

Claims against a city, county, school district, transit agency or police department follow different rules from ordinary injury claims. For a state-law claim against a public entity, a written government claim generally has to be presented within 6 months after the claim accrues, which is usually the date of injury (Government Code § 911.2). A late-claim application may be possible within 1 year in limited circumstances (§ 911.4). Public entities and their employees also have statutory immunities, including one for failing to provide enough police protection (§ 845).

Federal civil rights claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 are on a separate track. In California they generally have a 2-year deadline and do not require a government claim first. Because the rules differ so much, it helps to get advice quickly if a public agency was involved.

What If the Attacker Was Never Caught?

Many attackers are never identified or arrested. That does not settle whether anyone else can be held responsible. A property owner, business or employer can sometimes be liable based on its own conduct even when the attacker is unknown. The claim still has to prove that party’s duty, a breach of it, and a real causal link between the breach and your injury, so an unidentified attacker does not create liability for the property owner on its own. The California negligent security page walks through how courts look at these cases. You may also still be able to apply for CalVCB benefits, subject to the program’s rules.

Preserving Evidence After a Violent Crime

Some evidence disappears within days. Many surveillance systems record over old footage automatically, and access-card logs may be kept only for a short time. Evidence that can matter includes:

• Surveillance video from the property and nearby businesses
• Police body-camera footage, where it can be obtained through a lawful request
• 911 and dispatch records
• Your own photos and video of injuries and the scene
• Names and contact details of witnesses
• The police report or report number
• Medical records and bills
• Security guard logs and access-control or gate-entry records
• Incident reports made to the property or business
• Prior complaints or incidents at the same property, where legally relevant
• Messages and emails with the business, landlord or property manager
• Damaged clothing or belongings, kept as they are

Much of this belongs to a property owner, a security company or a government agency, and it has to be requested through proper channels, such as a preservation letter, a public records request or a subpoena. Please don’t return to the scene if it isn’t safe, contact the attacker, pressure witnesses, or try to get records you aren’t entitled to. Write down what you remember while it is fresh, keep your own photos and medical paperwork, and let a lawyer handle requests to third parties.

Damages in a Civil Claim

CalVCB benefits are capped and cover only certain expenses. A civil claim can seek losses the program does not pay. Depending on the claim and the defendant, civil damages may include:

• Reasonable medical expenses, past and future
• Lost earnings
• Loss of future earning capacity
• Other economic losses, such as damaged property
• Noneconomic damages, such as pain, suffering and emotional distress, where the law allows them
• Wrongful death damages for eligible family members (see below)

Punitive damages are a separate question. California allows them only when the plaintiff proves by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with malice, oppression or fraud (Civil Code § 3294). A criminal act does not make them automatic. Against an employer or company the bar is higher still: an officer, director or managing agent generally must have known of the employee’s unfitness in advance and acted with conscious disregard, or authorized or ratified the conduct, or committed it personally.

What any claim is worth depends on the facts, the evidence, and whether the responsible party has insurance or assets. No outcome can be promised.

How Long Do You Have to File a Civil Claim?

Deadlines depend on the type of claim and who is being sued. In general:

• Most assault, battery and injury claims: generally 2 years from the injury (Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1).
• If the attacker is convicted of a felony: a claim against that person can generally be filed within 1 year after sentencing, or up to 10 years after release from parole for certain serious felonies, when that gives more time than the usual deadline (CCP § 340.3).
• Claims against a public entity: a government claim generally within 6 months, before any lawsuit (Government Code § 911.2).
• Adult sexual assault: see the next section.

Exceptions can shorten or extend these periods, so it is safer not to rely on a general rule for your own case.

Deadlines for Civil Sexual Assault Claims in California

For sexual assault that happened when the survivor was 18 or older, the ordinary deadline is the later of 10 years from the last act, or 3 years from when the survivor discovered or reasonably should have discovered that an injury or illness resulted from it (CCP § 340.16). A criminal case or conviction is not required.

Assembly Bill 250, in effect since January 1, 2026, added a separate revival window. It applies only to adult sexual assault claims that were already time-barred before January 1, 2026. Those claims may be filed between January 1, 2026 and December 31, 2027, with conditions:

• A revived claim against an entity, such as a business or employer, requires the survivor to allege that the entity engaged in or attempted a cover-up of a previous instance or allegation of sexual assault by the alleged perpetrator.
• Claims against public entities are not revived.
• Claims already decided by a court, or resolved by a written settlement, before January 1, 2026 are not revived.

An earlier revival provision in the same statute, for certain claims based on conduct on or after January 1, 2009, remains open through December 31, 2026. Claims based on sexual abuse suffered as a child fall under a different statute (CCP § 340.1) with its own rules, and are not covered by the deadlines described here.

Wrongful Death Lawsuits Arising from Violent Crimes

Violent crimes can end lives. Murder, manslaughter and other fatal attacks take people who should still be here. If you lost a loved one to a violent crime, nothing can bring them back. A civil claim can help your family with the financial harm that follows, through a wrongful death claim, a survival action, or both. California treats them as separate claims:

• Wrongful death (CCP §§ 377.60–377.61) compensates eligible family members, such as a spouse, domestic partner or children, for their own losses from the death. These can include the financial support and household services the person would have provided, funeral and burial expenses, and the loss of the person’s love, companionship, comfort, care, assistance, protection, affection, society and moral support (CACI 3921).
• A survival action (CCP §§ 377.30–377.35) is brought by the personal representative of the estate or the successor in interest. It carries on claims the person had before death. Medical bills and lost income from the time between the injury and death belong here, not in the wrongful death claim (CCP § 377.61). For survival cases filed on or after January 1, 2026, the person’s own pain and suffering generally is not recoverable (CCP § 377.34), though punitive damages can be sought where the legal standard is met.

Many wrongful death claims have a 2-year deadline (CCP § 335.1), but not all. A felony conviction can extend it for a claim against the killer (CCP § 340.3), and a claim against a public entity needs a government claim within 6 months. Please get advice early rather than assuming the 2-year rule applies. Our guide on who can file a wrongful death lawsuit in California explains which family members are eligible.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I file a civil lawsuit after being assaulted in Los Angeles?

Often, yes. Assault and battery are civil wrongs as well as crimes, so you can generally sue the person who attacked you. Sometimes a property owner, business or employer can also be sued if its own negligence contributed. The usual deadline is 2 years, though some are shorter and some longer.

Do I need a criminal conviction to sue?

No. A civil case can go forward even if no one was charged or convicted, and it uses a lower standard of proof: more likely than not. A conviction can be useful evidence, but it doesn’t decide the civil case, and it doesn’t make any other party liable.

Can I sue a business or property owner after a violent crime?

Sometimes. An owner or operator is not responsible just because a crime happened on its property. The claim usually has to show that the owner had a duty to take reasonable security measures against a foreseeable crime, failed to take them, and that the failure caused your injury. This is called a negligent security claim.

What if the attacker was never identified or arrested?

You may still have a claim against another party, such as a property owner or business, but only if the evidence supports that party’s own duty, breach and causation. You may also still be able to apply for CalVCB benefits, subject to the program’s rules.

Can I get compensation if the attacker has no money?

Collecting from an individual attacker can be hard, and liability insurance generally doesn’t cover a person’s intentional acts. Other sources may include CalVCB benefits, criminal restitution if there is a conviction, and a claim against a third party whose own negligence contributed, if the facts support one.

What is the California Victim Compensation Board?

CalVCB is a state program that reimburses certain crime-related expenses, such as medical care, counseling, lost income, relocation and funeral costs, up to a current maximum of $70,000. It is a payer of last resort and does not pay for pain and suffering.

How long do I have to apply for CalVCB benefits?

Generally 7 years from the crime, 7 years after the victim turns 21, or 7 years from when the injury was or reasonably should have been discovered, whichever is latest. The Board can extend the deadline for good cause through a Late Consideration Form, but approval is up to the Board.

Do I have to cooperate with police to qualify for CalVCB?

The rule is reasonable cooperation, judged in light of your circumstances, including any fear of retaliation. Survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking have added protections and don’t need a police report to apply.

What evidence should be preserved after a violent crime?

Keep your medical records, photos of your injuries, the police report number, witness names, and any messages with the property owner or manager. Surveillance video and access logs can be overwritten quickly, so a lawyer can send a preservation request to whoever holds them.

Can a family bring a civil claim if a violent crime causes a death?

Yes. Eligible family members may bring a wrongful death claim for their own losses, and the estate may bring a survival action for losses the person had before death, such as medical bills. The two claims cover different damages.

What deadlines apply to civil sexual assault claims in California?

For adult survivors, generally the later of 10 years from the last act or 3 years from discovering the resulting injury. A separate window from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2027 revives some older claims that had expired, with extra requirements for claims against entities and no revival against public entities.