Lawyers representing victims of the Aurora movie theater shooting claim their newly filed lawsuit against Cinemark and its employees is a matter of justice, not money.

The lawsuit filed in Arapahoe County District Court alleges that Plano,Texas-based Cinemark and Town Center at Aurora shopping center owner Simon Property Group failed to ensure the theater complex was safe for paying customers.

During a press conference Tuesday, Marc Jay Bern, senior partner at the New York-based Napoli Bern Ripka Shkolnik, said “gross negligence” on behalf of the theater and staff led directly to the July 20 shooting that killed 12 people and injured at least 58 others.

“Nobody from Cinemark attempted to get anyone out, to evacuate the theater,” Bern said. ” Nobody turned on the lights in that theater, they allowed it to go on and the theater employees were nowhere to be found.”

The press conference was scheduled for the sidewalk in front of the theater, but moved across the street after complaints of trespassing on private property from security and police.

Justice, not money, is the issue, Bern reiterated multiple times. However, in civil matters, justice comes down to monetary compensation, he said. Bern said the suit will seek a “substantial amount of money” and will be asking for punitive damages as well.

Fred Vojtsek, father of victim Julia Vojtsek, 23, said his motivation to be a part of the lawsuit revolved around family.

“It’s the concern of the long-term well-being of our family because right now there is no way we could hazard a guess what that will be,” he said.

Vojtsek did not discuss the extent of his daughter’s injuries.

Several other lawsuits filed in federal court also cite a lapse in security by Cinemark.

Nathan Crowdes, the theater’s general manager, and its manager, Jennifer A. Strensrud, are also named as defendants in the lawsuit. Neither manager has previously been listed in lawsuits filed by other victims of the July 20 shooting that left 12 people dead and at least 58 injured.

Boulder-based Frascona, Joiner, Goodman and Greenstein, P.C. is working in association with Bern’s law firm.

Listed among the allegations in the lawsuit filed Monday are “past incidents of criminal activities and disturbances,” which had taken place at the theater primarily in the evening hours.”

It cites an August article from The New York Times that notes a charge nurse at the University of Colorado Hospital “reported that there had been gang shooting before at the defendants’ theater.”

However, Aurora police said they could not find a service call to the theater involving a shooting other than on July 20.

The lawsuit alleges the defendants did not take proper precautions in maintaining a safe environment for patrons.

Moreover, the lawsuit states that while alleged gunman James Holmes opened fire on people gathered at the sold-out premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises,” no alarm activated “during the many minutes” the shooting took place and that there was “no action taken by theater employees to safely evacuate the many people left in Auditorium 9.”

Theater 9 was where Holmes is alleged to have began shooting.

Cinemark declined to comment Monday but has sought dismissals of previous lawsuits, saying the events were unforseeable.

On the website of Berns’ lawfirm it boasts of having secured in excess of $3 billion in settlements and awards since 2000. Bern’s high-powered law firm helped reach an $816.5 million settlement for first-responders to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The website notes a high-profile list of negotiated settlements that include one against the City of New York, and other defendants for toxic exposure to 10,000 first responders to the World Trade Center in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

It also lists a negotiated settlement of more than $800 million on behalf of thousands of plaintiffs injured as a result of taking the defective diet drug known as fen-phen is also listed.

Plaintiffs being represented by Bern, who said his firm is representing the victims for “half the fee” it would normally charge, include: Farrah Soudani; Carol Baker; Yousef Gharbi and his parents, Hadj Ali Gharbi and Amee Gharbi; Julia Lauren Vojtsek; Mike White, Jr.; Michael White, Sr., and his daughter Paula Adams; Joe Popovich Jr. and Brendan Popovich and their parents Joseph Popovich and Kathleen Popovich.

Kurtis Lee: 303-954-1655, klee@denverpost.com or twitter.com/kurtisalee