Can I sue the night club? 22 Answers as of February 17, 2012

Only if the night club has a history of violent patrons and should have had better security or metal detectors.

Before discussing your question about suing the night club, it is important to note a distinction between being able to sue and your likelihood of winning if you do sue. You can almost always sue. The real question is should be what are your chances of being successful in your lawsuit. Just based on the information you provided, I believe the likelihood of you being successful against the night club in a lawsuit are small. There are a number of things you would need to prove to win. The hardest is whether what happened to you was foreseeable. To be foreseeable, you would need to prove that the night club should have known, either due to a fairly large number of prior incidents or because of a known threat to its customers, that a person would bring in a weapon and assault another person. Even if you prove that it was foreseeable, then the issue is what would have "reasonable" for the night club to do to protect its customers. You, without even necessarily knowing it, touched on the other major issue and how I arrived at my answer. In the 'Question Detail' you yourself state: ". . . may have not gotten in . . ." You recognize that even if the night club had used a metal detector or a search, you still have been stabbed. This is the other reason why I believe your chances of winning against the night club are small.

Possibly. If there was a history of. Violent crime in the club then they may have had an obligation to employ heightened security.

The question is whether the nightclub was negligent - whether they failed to provide security in the way a reasonably prudent nightclub would have. The case that springs to mind is Carlsen v. Wackenhut, 73 Wn. App. 247 (1994) where a security firm got sued for negligent hiring. (You can read cases on the MRSC website - http://www.mrsc.org/wa/courts/index_dtSearch.html ). You should probably try to find an attorney who would be willing to investigate the many facts of possible nightclub liability.

To successfully sue in this scenario you need to prove the nightclub had a duty to screen customers for weapons, that they breached that duty, and the breach of the duty was the direct (proximate) cause of your injury. It may be possible to establish a duty existed by looking at what other night clubs do, whether there have been previous similar incidents at this club, and other factors. You may not be able to establish the club had a duty to you, but that may not stop them from offering some form of settlement to stop the suit. You should consult a personal injury attorney to determine the merits of your case.

You can sue anyone. What you are really asking, is whether the suit is a viable - whether you are likely to prevail. The answer to that question depends on a number of factors including, but not limited to how much you had to drink, whether you were an aggressor, the seriousness of your injury, the cost of treating your injury and whether the medical bills are paid, how much wage loss resulted from the injury, and what the police report says. To discuss this matter in further detail, you should make an appointment to speak with a personal injury attorney, face-to-face. Make sure that you bring all of your medical documents, your pay stubs, and a copy of the police report.

Unless the night club in question had a previous history of criminal misconduct or was cited by the local authorities it will be very difficult to hold the club liable for the criminal wrongdoing of a third party. You would have to prove that they knew or had reason to know that criminal conduct of this nature was occurring and took no action to keep its customers safe. I do not know of any requirement that a night club have a metal detector and you would probably have to have an expert to establish that they should have been on notice that something like this could happen so as to require them to have metal detectors. Your claim against the nightclub would likely be very expensive to pursue and proving that the nightclub was negligent and that their negligence was a cause of your injuries would be unlikely. Bars and nightclubs have to comply with state and local laws, related to alcohol consumption and have to have policies to handle criminal conduct on their premises but in your situation proving that the stabbing would not have occurred given the fact that you do not know the identify of the assailant makes it even more difficult to prove.

Doubtful. The nightclub could be held liable if you could prove that they knew or should have known of the danger to you and that they could have prevented it and failed to do so. From what you describe, I doubt that you could muster the necessary proof.

Yes you can. You will have to prove they had inadequte security, not just say it. so locate an exspert in the area of security and see what you need. Judges and juries don't care for bar fights much. You must know that going in.

Yes, you may. However, in order to recover damages, you have to prove that the night club was negligent. You should seek specific legal advice from a personal injury lawyer.