As another year closed, 2014 had many interesting lawsuits that I was involved in as an expert witness who specializes in casino cases. It was also interesting to listen to the case inquiries made during the last several years.

As a consultant with a primary specialization in gaming security and surveillance, I wanted to share some of these inquiries and trending litigations. The demand for my legal services has far surpassed the demand for general consulting for casinos.

For the most part, litigation involving claims of inadequacy and negligence where surveillance or security had a legal duty to protect their patron from foreseeable harm remained consistent with prior years. I received calls from both defense attorneys representing casinos and plaintiff attorneys representing customers who felt they were wronged in some way.

During 2014 and in recent years, there is a trend moving into litigation that involves self-exclusion programs, armed robberies (both on and off site), and the ever-increasing incidents of assaults in the casino as a result of two or more customers in a dispute where injuries are suffered. The other typical cases involving intentional torts (where a security officer does something to someone) by security personnel and alcohol-related cases continue to be the focus of many lawsuits.

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