Dram Shop Claims as Clarified by our Houston Drunken Driver Accident Lawyers

When it comes to accountability for drunken driving accidents, pretty much everyone has an opinion about who should be held liable. Should the intoxicated driver be the only one to bear the financial burden of the harm caused, or should another party who also contributed to the cause of the accident be brought to justice?

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In order to provide a set of laws to address this question, the state of Texas recognizes “dram shop laws,” so named due to the types of glasses in which alcoholic beverages used to be sold in clubs. In this state, bars and restaurants are expected to serve their patrons responsibly, and should a customer become noticeably drunk only to cause drunken driving accident later, then the drinking establishment can be held financially accountable. When a patron reaches the point of obvious intoxication, a drinking establishment is required to cut off service and help find the customer a safe ride home. When people learn about dram shop laws, they immediately react negatively, thinking these laws allow the drunken driver to push off his or her financial accountability for his or her own actions onto another party. However, this is a false assumption, for negligent bars and restaurants only share the financial liability for drunken driving accidents with the intoxicated driver who caused the wreck. Even more so, criminal charges will likely be filed against the drunken driver to punish him or her even further. There is a very simple reason why dram shop laws are a necessity in drunken driving cases.

When someone has exceeded the legal level of intoxication of .08 percent blood alcohol concentration, he or she has lost the ability to make sound mental decisions and sharp physical actions. Therefore, a drunken driver lacks the reasoning skills to be able to rationally determine if he or she is capable of driving safely. The safety of the public relies upon a sober server in the drinking establishment determining when a patron who intends to drive is a danger to him or herself and others.

However, this legal duty puts the bartender and the servers in the bar in a difficult spot. The drinking establishment wants to sell as much alcohol as it can to maximize profits, and the servers in the drinking establishment can only make bigger tips by selling more alcohol. However, the price of doing this business is that more drunken drivers are on the roads, so bars and restaurants and their servers must dispense alcohol responsibly or pay for the harm done when they do not.

If you were injured or a family member died in an accident with a drunken driver whom you believe was negligently over-served by a bar or restaurant in Houston or anywhere in South Texas, then the dram shop lawyers at Grossman Law Offices know how to assist you. The state of Texas mandates that drinking establishments who serve alcohol responsibly should pay for their actions, and our attorneys know how to carry that out to fruition. Since 1990, our firm has been finding ways to help people injured by drunken drivers or those who have lost loved ones as a result of someone else’s drunken recklessness. We can help you bring a third party dram shop claim against the bar or restaurant who over-served the drunken driver who injured you or robbed you of your family member’s love, and we may even be able to help you bring a first party dram shop claim against the bar or restaurant who over-served you or your loved one before he or she caused a drunken driving wreck. Call us now for a free can confidential consultation at 1-855-392-0000 (toll free) and tell us your story. You can then ask any lingering questions regarding what you don’t understand and find out what legal options you have at your disposal.


Some of Our Most Recent Successful Cases
Confidential Recovery - Wrongful Death / Automobile Accident
(policy limits) Our firm was hired to pursue an intoxicated driver who killed an elderly school crossing guard. The fatal accident occurred as the decedent was escorting a woman and her child across the roadway through a crosswalk. The defendant then sped through the school zone, in an intoxicated a state, and struck the decedent who died on the scene.

The family hired our firm to investigate and pursue the defendant under a wrongful death cause of action. Following our investigation and preliminary vehicle inspection, our attorneys issued a Stowers' demand to the defendants. A significant factor in resolving this claim is that merely days before we submitted our demand to the defendant' insurance carrier, we won a large case against the very same insurance carrier, which was one of several such victories secured against the carrier in our firm's history. Our threats of litigation were therefore heeded and the defendants offered policy limits to settle the claim without the need to file suit.
Total Recovery:
Confidential
Attorney Fees:
Confidential
Litigation Expenses:
Confidential
$109,500.00 Recovery - Third-Party Dram Shop Accident (Broken Leg)
Recovery for passenger who suffered broken leg in a drunken driving accident.
Total Recovery:
$109,500.00
Attorney Fees:
$41,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$30.00
$300,000.00 Recovery - Wrongful Death / Third Party Dram Shop
(policy limits) An incredibly intoxicated driver drove head-on into a vehicle, killing several of the vehicle's occupants. The defendants had limited assets, yet an alternative policy was uncovered, which the defendants argued was non applicable. Under threat of litigation, our attorneys negotiated a settlement for the policy limits.
Total Recovery:
$300,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$132,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$0.00
$337,500.00 Recovery - Third-Party Dram Shop Accident (Punctured Colon and Soft Tissue Injuries)
Our client suffered a punctured colon and numerous soft tissue injuries in an alcohol-related car accident. The accident occurred as the defendant driver crashed his car into a concrete median. The plaintiff, a passenger in the vehicle, alleged that the defendant driver was over served alcohol to such an extent that he was several times the legal limit. As such, a claim was brought against the defendant driver and the bar which over served him. A settlement was reached with the defendant driver and the plaintiff turned his focus on the bar in question. The case was resolved successfully through litigation. Based on the egregious conduct of the bar and it's numerous TABC violations, the defendant's liquor license was revoked soon after the case was resolved.
Total Recovery:
$337,500.00
Attorney Fees:
$134,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$3,750.00
$100,000.00 Recovery - Third-Party Dram Shop Accident (Broken Arm)
Recovered for client injured in a liquor liability accident.
Total Recovery:
$100,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$40,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$5,000.00
$550,000.00 Recovery - Wrongful Death / First Party Dram Shop
A young woman lost her life after a bar over served her to more than three times the legal limit resulting in her burning to death in a single-vehicle accident. Witnesses stated that she was so intoxicated that she could barely make it to her vehicle without assistance. Through litigation, our attorneys ascertained the necessary evidence to prove that the establishment provided alcohol to an obviously intoxicated person, thus resulting in her ultimate demise.
Total Recovery:
$550,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$220,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$25,000.00
$100,000.00 Recovery - Third-Party Dram Shop Accident (Broken Leg)
(policy limits) Recovery for pedestrian who suffered a broken leg when he was hit by a drunken driver.
Total Recovery:
$100,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$33,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$1,000.00
$97,500.00 Recovery - Wrongful Death / First-Party Dram Shop Accident
(policy limits were $100k) Recovery for wife of a motorcyclist who was killed in a drunk driving accident.
Total Recovery:
$97,500.00
Attorney Fees:
$48,750.00
Litigation Expenses:
$0.00
$350,000.00 Recovery - Wrongful Death / First Party Dram Shop
Our firm was hired by the minor child and parents of a young man who was killed in a motorcycle accident after being over served alcohol at a South Padre Island bar. The plaintiffs hired our firm to investigate the claim on the basis that the decedent was over the legal limit at the time of his death. In initial attempts to settle the case out of court, the defendants denied liability. Suit was filed soon thereafter.

The defendants initially argued that the decedent never consumed alcohol on their premises. Through physical evidence and deposition testimony to the contrary, we were able to conclusively prove that the decedent had indeed been drinking at the establishment.

The defendants then asserted allegations that the decedent's minor child was not actually his biological child, which would bar his claim entirely. A DNA test was performed and this argument was defeated.

The defendants then asserted the safe harbor defense. Our attorneys argued that the defendants did not qualify for safe harbor protection due to the fact that their servers were not all licensed providers. However, while this element was being addressed, our attorneys focused their attention on addressing the second element of the safe harbor defense regarding the bar's encouragement of the over service of alcohol. The defendants claimed that they would never serve the double-shot Bacardi cocktails that witnesses claimed the decedent drank several of. We sent private investigators into the bar to order the same drinks that the decedent consumed on the night of his death and the very same bar tenders who over served the decedent, without hesitation, served copious amounts of alcohol to the investigators, all of which was captured on hidden camera.

Once the safe harbor defense was defeated, the defendants argued that the decedent's BAC was low enough at the time of his death (as recorded by the hospital) that he would not have necessarily appeared obviously intoxicated to the servers and therefore the bar should not be held liable even if he had been over served. Eyewitness testimony refuted this.

Additionally, our firm's testifying medical expert reviewed the medical records related to the emergency helicopter flight that transported the decedent to the hospital after his accident. She determined that the EMS technicians administered numerous blood transfusions while in flight. Armed with this newfound data, our medical expert reverse extrapolated and determined conclusively that the decedent's BAC was actually in the range of .19-.21 at the time of the accident, though it was drastically diluted by the time he arrived at the hospital, which accounted for the relatively low BAC found in the hospital's medical records. This testimony proved to be pivotal in the case, resulting in a successful recovery for our clients.
Total Recovery:
$350,000.00
Attorney Fees:
$140,000.00
Litigation Expenses:
$40,000.00

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