A lawsuit recently filed in Texas on behalf of a woman killed by a drunk driver alleges that a local bar improperly served drinks to a patron until he was inebriated, and then allowed him to leave the premises in his own vehicle. The suit reportedly alleges that the establishment should have either stopped the service of alcohol earlier in time or prevented him from driving his vehicle. Cases of this type are recognized in the State of New Jersey where a licensed establishment fails to properly monitor the amount of alcohol served to its patrons.
New Jersey is among the majority of states that allows a cause of action against a bar or other food or beverage establishment licensed to serve alcohol when one of its patrons causes an injury to an innocent third party. In such cases, a litigant or plaintiff must established that improper actions by the patron were the result of inebriation and that the entity that served the alcohol did so in an improper manner. Thus, in New Jersey, the first appropriate legal inquiry is whether or not the person that caused the injury was intoxicated to the extent that would alter his or her behavior, and inhibit his or her ability to properly and reasonably act under the circumstances. In order to establish this intoxication and resulting inhibition, an expert may determine the level of alcohol in the person at the time of the accident or injury, and may explain the effect of that level of alcohol on the reflexes and reasoning of the individual.
The second legal inquiry that must be made is whether the establishment served alcohol to the individual at a time when it was unreasonable to so. How do we know when it is unreasonable to serve alcohol to any individual? New Jersey cases hold that the server of alcohol will be responsible for any injuries caused by an intoxicated person when that person was served alcohol even though that person was "visibly intoxicated." Many factors go into the definition of "visible intoxication," including but not limited to the number of drinks served to a person, the slurring of the person's speech, the existence of bloodshot eyes, and the demeanor of the person. Of course, because each person acts differently when consuming alcohol, the number of drinks and the blood alcohol level for each "visibly intoxicated" person may vary. Once again, an expert will needed to establish a person's blood level at varying points of service of the alcohol. Generally, an expert accomplishes this by utilizing a known blood alcohol level and the time of consumption, and extrapolating back in time from that point based on a person's metabolism and alcohol burn rate.
In all such cases, it is imperative to perform an investigation as soon as possible, at the earliest possible point after the incident or accident, to establish the existence of witnesses and obtain other evidence. Witnesses can be utilized to testify as to the actions of the intoxicated person immediately prior to the accident and during the time that the establishment continued to serve that person alcohol, in order to prove the above referenced requirements.
Importantly, the New Jersey Supreme Court has extended such cases to the social host context in a lawsuit handled by our law firm. Basically, this case made it a law that any person serving alcohol to another, whether in a bar or club setting, or at a backyard barbeque, should take steps to monitor the consumption of alcohol of their guests and cut them off form further drinking when the person first exhibits signs of intoxication. Regardless of which side of this incident you may find yourself on, it is crucial to contact a skilled, experienced attorney immediately.
