Dram Shop and Drunk Driving Cases

A Good Time Shouldn’t End Another’s Life

The decision to get behind the wheel after consuming alcohol is not only personally dangerous, it’s a complete disregard for the lives of all other drivers and passengers on the road. The responsibility for injuries or deaths resulting from a driver impaired by alcohol or drugs may include the provider of the alcohol or drugs if service was not done safely.

Dram Shop

If an injury or death is the result of drunk driving, the establishment that over-served the driver can be held accountable. Everyone knows alcohol impairs judgment. Establishments that make money from selling alcohol know this better than anyone. Laws have been enacted to require liquor license holders to sell alcohol safely. If the laws are violated — by selling to a minor or to someone who is clearly already intoxicated — the license holder can, and should, be held accountable for the consequences of doing so. As marijuana sales become legal in more and more states, those sellers will have a responsibility to the public for safe service and the consequences of unsafe service of these known mind-altering drugs.

Drunk Drivers

If a driver causes the injuries or death of another, because of driving under the influence, the driver can be held liable for the offense. In addition to a criminal case (where consequences include jail time), drunk drivers can be held responsible for their reckless decisions in a civil case (where consequences include compensating the injured or loved one’s family’s losses).

Under the guidelines of the U.S. Department of Transportation, any person with a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 grams per deciliter or higher is deemed alcohol-impaired. But, because these offending drivers are often charged criminally and those charges make it difficult to get information from the police and/or district attorney pursuing the criminal claims, you need an aggressive and skilled civil lawyer with experience investigating and pursuing these claims. We have experience and success holding all parties responsible in a drunk and/or impaired driving incident.