Chicago Crime Victims Lawyer
You didn’t deserve what happened to you. Now it’s time for our crime victims lawyers to find out who could have stopped it, who failed to act, and who should answer for leaving you in harm’s way.
In cases like yours, the crime itself is only part of the story.
A landlord may have ignored broken locks. A business may have known about repeated violence on its property. Maybe a bar failed to step in when a dangerous situation was getting out of control, or an employer put someone dangerous in a position of trust.
Assaulted, shot, sexually attacked, robbed, or otherwise injured because someone failed to protect you?
Call Ankin Law at (312) 600-0000 now. The consultation is free.
“I’m Howard Ankin. If someone had the chance to stop this and didn’t, we’ll find out who and hold them accountable.”
— Howard Ankin Founder of Ankin Law
Table of Contents
A Criminal Case Is Not Your Only Path to Justice
Justice and accountability are not the same thing. Holding your attacker accountable is only one part of getting justice. The other part is holding accountable everyone whose failure made this possible.
The criminal justice system decides whether someone accused of a crime should be punished. Police and prosecutors handle the criminal case, and you don’t control that process. They decide whether charges will be filed and how those charges will be prosecuted.
A civil claim is about you.
It can hold responsible parties financially accountable for the injuries, trauma, lost income, medical treatment, and other losses the crime caused. As the injured person, you can pursue a claim against the people, businesses, property owners, employers, institutions, or other entities whose negligence contributed to what happened.
Depending on the circumstances, that may include the person who committed the crime, but it often includes another party that had a legal duty to take reasonable precautions and failed to do so.
You may have a civil claim even if:
- No one has been arrested
- Criminal charges were never filed
- The criminal case is still pending
- The person who attacked you was acquitted
- The attacker does not have the financial resources to compensate you
- Another person or company contributed to the conditions that allowed the crime to occur
You may have a civil claim even if:
- No one has been arrested
- Criminal charges were never filed
- The criminal case is still pending
- The person who attacked you was acquitted
- The attacker does not have the financial resources to compensate you
- Another person or company contributed to the conditions that allowed the crime to occur
Who Can Be Held Responsible When You Are the Victim of a Crime?
Some violent crimes happen without warning. Others happen after warning signs were ignored over and over again.
That difference matters.
Illinois law may allow victims to pursue compensation from third parties whose negligence contributed to their injuries. The responsible party depends on where the crime occurred, what happened before it, and who had control over the people or property involved.
Property Owners and Landlords
Apartment owners, landlords, and property managers cannot guarantee that a crime will never happen, but when they know about security problems or reasonably foreseeable dangers, doing nothing can have consequences.
A claim against a property owner may arise when an owner fails to address issues such as:
- Broken exterior doors or gates
- Defective locks
- Poor lighting
- Unsecured entrances
- Repeated trespassing
- Prior assaults, robberies, or other criminal activity
- Missing or ineffective security personnel
- Security cameras that do not work
- Tenant complaints about dangerous conditions
If tenants have been complaining for months that anyone can walk through a broken entrance and someone is eventually attacked inside the building, that history matters.
Businesses
Restaurants, bars, nightclubs, stores, hotels, entertainment venues, sports venues, and other businesses may face liability when they fail to respond reasonably to known dangers.
These cases can involve inadequate security, failure to intervene in escalating violence, dangerous crowd conditions, inadequate employee training, or repeated incidents that should have put the business on notice.
The question is not simply whether a crime happened on the property. It is what the business knew, what it should have known, and whether reasonable steps could have reduced the danger.
Employers
An employer may be liable when negligent hiring, supervision, retention, or other failures put a dangerous employee in a position to harm someone.
These cases can arise in healthcare facilities, schools, residential programs, transportation services, childcare settings, home service businesses, and other workplaces where employees are given access to customers, patients, residents, or vulnerable people.
Security Companies
Hiring a security company does not help if security personnel are poorly trained, posts are left unattended, known threats are ignored, or established procedures are not followed.
Depending on the facts, a private security contractor may share responsibility for an assault, shooting, robbery, or other violent incident.
Schools, Care Facilities, and Other Institutions
Organizations entrusted with the care or supervision of others have responsibilities that cannot be reduced to paperwork and policies.
When an institution ignores reports of violence, fails to supervise dangerous individuals, overlooks previous misconduct, or fails to enforce its own safety procedures, those failures can become central to a civil claim.
Types of Cases We Handle for Victims of Crimes
Ankin Law handles a wide range of cases for victims of crimes in Chicago and the surrounding communities. Our lawyers help people who have been impacted by assault and battery, sexual abuse or sexual assault, shootings, robberies, police misconduct, and other violent crimes that are allowed to happen because other people are negligent.
Assault and Battery
We investigate the attacker’s actions and the circumstances surrounding the assault. Did a property owner know violence was a recurring problem? Did security fail to respond? Did a business allow a confrontation to escalate? Were there previous warning signs? Those questions can change the case.
Shootings
When a shooting occurs at an apartment complex, nightclub, hotel, parking area, store, event venue, or other property, we investigate whether inadequate security or other negligence contributed to the attack.
Sexual Assault and Abuse
Civil claims involving sexual assault or abuse may extend beyond the perpetrator. Schools, employers, rideshare platforms, healthcare facilities, residential programs, detention centers, foster care homes, religious organizations, property owners, and other institutions may bear responsibility when negligent hiring, supervision, security failures, or ignored reports allowed abuse to occur.
Robbery and Carjacking Injuries
A robbery or carjacking can become physically violent in seconds. When these crimes occur on commercial or residential property with a documented history of similar incidents, the property owner’s response to those earlier dangers may become an important part of a civil claim.
Wrongful Death Caused by Violent Crime
When an assault, shooting, or other violent crime takes a life, surviving family members may have the right to pursue a wrongful death claim against parties whose negligence contributed to the death. A claim can help compensate a family for the financial and personal consequences of losing someone.
Police Misconduct and Civil Rights Violations
Not every crime victim case involves a private party’s negligence. When a police officer uses excessive force, makes a wrongful arrest, or otherwise violates your civil rights, that is a different kind of claim with its own legal standards. Ankin Law also represents victims of police misconduct.
These cases demand more than run-of-the-mill personal injury representation. As a survivor, you need compassion, confidentiality, and a legal team who isn’t afraid to expose everyone who allowed this to happen to you. Our trial lawyers are built to take on institutions that would rather stay quiet than admit what they knew.
Where Do These Crimes Commonly Happen in Chicago?
Violent crime can happen anywhere.
When a person or company had a responsibility to prevent a foreseeable danger and failed, the location matters.
The location tells us where to start. The evidence tells us who may be liable.
Common locations include:
- Apartment buildings and condominium complexes
- Parking garages and parking lots
- Bars, nightclubs, and restaurants
- Hotels and Airbnb rentals
- Retail stores and shopping centers
- Gas stations and convenience stores
- Concert venues and entertainment facilities
- Schools and college campuses
- Summer camp
- Hospitals and healthcare facilities
- Nursing homes and residential care facilities
- Workplaces
- Public and private events
How Ankin Law Builds a Case
Crime victim cases are evidence cases.
A broken lock can be repaired. Surveillance footage can be erased. Employees leave. Security schedules change. Online reviews disappear. Witnesses become harder to find.
That is why our investigation goes beyond the police report.
Depending on the case, we may look for:
- Surveillance and security footage
- 911 call records
- Police reports and records of prior incidents at the location
- Prior complaints from tenants, customers, or employees
- Emails and maintenance requests
- Security logs, schedules, and contracts
- Building access records
- Lighting and property inspection records
- Policies and procedures
- Employee hiring and disciplinary records
- Witness statements
- Photographs and video
The defense may try to frame the case as one unpredictable criminal act that no one could have stopped.
We test that claim against the evidence. If there were warning signs, and someone chose to ignore them, we intend to prove it.
Foreseeability Can Be the Detail That Decides the Case
One of the central questions in many Illinois crime victim cases is whether the danger was reasonably foreseeable.
If there were no warning signs and no reason to anticipate violence, establishing third-party liability may be difficult. If the same location had repeated assaults, robberies, security complaints, unauthorized entries, threats, or police responses, the picture can look very different.
Our job is to uncover that history.
We look beyond the incident that brought you to us and ask what was happening days, months, and sometimes years before you were hurt.
Compensation in a Lawsuit
A civil lawsuit cannot undo a violent crime. What it can do is make the responsible parties pay for the harm they caused or failed to prevent. We look at what the crime has already cost you and what it is likely to cost you going forward.
Medical Care
- Emergency medical treatment
- Hospitalization and surgery
- Future medical care
- Physical rehabilitation
- Psychological counseling and therapy
Pain and Suffering
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Disability
- Disfigurement and scarring
- Loss of normal life
Income Losses
- Lost wages
- Lost commissions
- Reduced earning capacity
- Lost business income
- Loss of employment benefits
Illinois Crime Victims May Have Additional Financial Assistance Available
A civil lawsuit is not the only potential source of financial assistance.
Eligible victims of violent crime may also qualify for benefits through the Illinois Crime Victims Compensation Program. The program can reimburse qualifying expenses associated with a violent crime, including certain medical expenses, counseling costs, lost earnings, relocation expenses, funeral expenses, and other covered losses.
The compensation program and a civil lawsuit are not the same thing. Different eligibility rules, procedures, deadlines, and recoverable losses can apply.
A victim should not assume that receiving assistance through one source eliminates every other legal option.
Do I Have to Wait for the Criminal Case to End Before Filing a Lawsuit?
Not necessarily. The criminal case and your civil claim are separate legal matters. Waiting for the criminal process to play out can also create problems because evidence relevant to a civil lawsuit may be lost while time passes.
An attorney can investigate your civil options while a criminal case is pending and determine how the two proceedings may affect one another.
You also should not assume that you have no civil case because prosecutors declined to bring charges or because no one has been convicted.
The question in your civil case is different: Who is legally responsible for the harm you suffered?
How Long Do Crime Victims Have to File a Lawsuit in Illinois?
The deadline depends on the type of claim, the identity of the defendant, the victim’s age, and other facts.
Many Illinois personal injury actions are subject to a two-year statute of limitations, but there are important exceptions and different rules for certain claims arising from criminal conduct. Illinois also has specific provisions affecting claims involving childhood sexual abuse.
Do not try to calculate the deadline based on a general rule you found online.
The safer approach is to have an attorney identify the claims that may apply and the deadlines associated with each one.
Frequently Asked Questions About Crime Victim Lawsuits
Can I Sue the Person Who Attacked Me?
In many circumstances, a crime victim can pursue a civil claim directly against the person who caused the injuries. Whether doing so is the most effective way to recover compensation is a separate question. An attacker may have limited assets or insurance coverage. An attorney should also investigate whether a business, property owner, employer, institution, or other third party shares legal responsibility for what happened.
Can I Sue a Business if I Was Attacked on Its Property?
Possibly. The fact that an attack happened at a business does not automatically make the business liable. A claim may exist when the business knew or should have known about a foreseeable danger and failed to take reasonable precautions. Prior violent incidents, inadequate security, ignored threats, poor lighting, defective locks, and failures to follow security procedures may all be relevant.
What if No One Was Convicted of the Crime?
A criminal conviction is not always required to pursue a civil claim. Criminal and civil cases operate separately and apply different legal standards. Depending on the facts, a victim may still have claims against the perpetrator or negligent third parties even when there has been no criminal conviction.
Can I File a Lawsuit After a Shooting at an Apartment Complex?
You may have a claim if negligence by the owner, landlord, property manager, security company, or another party contributed to the shooting. These cases frequently turn on what was known before the attack, including prior shootings, assaults, unauthorized access, tenant complaints, broken security equipment, or other evidence showing a foreseeable risk of violence.
What if the Crime Caused PTSD or Other Emotional Trauma?
Emotional and psychological injuries can be significant components of a crime victim’s damages. A civil claim may include the costs of counseling or other treatment as well as compensation for emotional distress and the effect the trauma has had on the victim’s life, when supported by the facts and applicable law.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Crime Victims Lawyer?
Ankin Law offers free consultations and handles personal injury cases on a contingency fee basis. You do not pay attorney fees upfront. If we recover compensation for you, the attorney fee is paid from the recovery.
Talk to a Chicago Crime Victims Lawyer at Ankin Law
We are trial lawyers. We do not build cases around what an insurance company would prefer to pay or what their analysis uncovers. Our investigation goes further.
Who knew there was a danger? Who had the ability to do something about it? Who ignored the warnings? Who failed to protect you?
Those answers can reveal a civil claim that is separate from the criminal case and a source of compensation the victim may not have known existed.
If you or someone you love was injured in an assault, shooting, sexual attack, robbery, or another violent crime in Chicago or elsewhere in Illinois, contact Ankin Law.
Call (312) 600-0000 for a free consultation.
We will find out what happened before the crime, who failed you, and who can be held accountable.