Dram Shop Liability: Bar, Restaurant and Individual Exposure for Over-Serving Customers and Guests

Recording of a 90-minute CLE webinar with Q&A

Conducted on Wednesday, August 7, 2019

Recorded event now available

or call 1-800-926-7926
Program Materials

This CLE webinar will familiarize counsel with the panoply of dram shop liability issues. These issues include the substantive bases of liability under dram shop acts, the procedural steps required under those statutes, statutory interpretation issues, and insurance coverage factors.

Description

When someone under the influence of alcohol injures a person, the injured person may have a claim against whoever provided the alcohol: the server, the owner/operator of an establishment, and even the host of a private party. Statutes implementing this liability--dram shop laws--exist to fill a hole where the common law does not provide relief.

Dram shop relief is statutory, so counsel must be familiar with the details of the statutes involved. Counsel must recognize the nuances in the laws and how courts interpret them, including the impact of whether the intoxicated person was of legal drinking age; the level of scrutiny applied to how the alcohol provider determines drinking age; and the determining factors in deciding whether the server should have refused to serve a patron.

Plaintiff and defendant counsel both focus on allegations that will trigger exclusions and non-covered items in insurance policies. For example, statues will require claims of "willful" actions, and many insurance policies do not provide coverage for such claims.

Listen as the panel, from both the plaintiff and defendant bar, explore these issues and provide insight into pursuing and defending claims under these statutes.

READ MORE

Outline

  1. Background and content of dram shop statutes
  2. Statutory analysis and construction
    1. Standard of care
    2. Underage drinkers
    3. Private hosts
    4. Role of common law defenses
  3. Insurance coverage issues

Benefits

The panel will review and other critical matters:

  • Theories and bases of liability under dram shop statutes
  • Procedures to comply with dram shop statutes
  • Defenses to liability
  • Recovery and insurance issues

Faculty

Butler, Drew
Drew Hamilton Butler
Shareholder
Richardson Plowden

Mr. Butler focuses his practice on general litigation, including but not limited to construction litigation, products...  |  Read More

Lail, David
David Lail
Atty
Yarborough Applegate Law Firm

Mr. Lail has recovered significant compensation for clients in a variety of cases, including bad faith insurance...  |  Read More

Access Anytime, Anywhere

Strafford will process CLE credit for one person on each recording. All formats include program handouts.

To find out which recorded format will provide the best CLE option, select your state:

CLE On-Demand Video

Download