Bennett Legal recently settled a dram shop liability case for the insurance policy limits of $1,000,000.00. In July 2020, a bar/restaurant in Tarrant County, Texas served alcohol to an obviously intoxicated customer and allowed him to drive away. After leaving the bar, the Customer drove across the parking lot from the bar and got a haircut. After leaving the hair salon, the Customer pulled out in front of a man on a motorcycle and caused the motorcyclist to crash and suffer serious injuries.
This case was referred to Bennett Legal from another Dallas Law Firm that had already obtained the intoxicated Customer’s auto insurance policy limits but wanted our help representing the motorcyclist to establish liability on the Bar/Restaurant.
We first got a witness statement from the hair stylist who cut the obviously intoxicated Customer’s hair. She stated the Customer was obviously intoxicated to her, that he smelled heavily of alcohol, and that he did not consume any alcohol while in her presence, which was important for proving the Customer did not continue to drink after he left the Bar/Restaurant.
Next, Bennett Legal hired an expert in how bars should serve customers, what responsibilities bars and bartenders have in recognizing when a customer is obviously intoxicated, and how bars and bartenders should behave once they identify an obviously intoxicated customer. That expert stated that the Bar/Restaurant was negligent and grossly negligent in serving the customer.
Bennett Legal also hired a toxicologist to review the police report and determine the Customer’s blood alcohol level at the time the Bar/Restaurant last served him. He determined that the Customer’s blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit when the Bar/Restaurant last served him:
We also used the Bar/Restaurant’s security video, which was nearly 2-hours long to create a 3-minute synopsis of the bartender serving the Customer, the Customer leaving the Bar/Restaurant to drive to the hair salon, and then the Customer leaving the salon and causing the crash.
Screenshot from video inside the Bar/Restaurant showing combined camera angles
Screenshot from video tracking the Customer driving in the parking lot
Finally, Bennett Legal deposed the Bar/Restaurant’s owner. After being presented with the overwhelming evidence of the Customer’s intoxication at the time of the Bar/Restaurant’s last service, the witness statement, and the video of the crash, the Bar/Restaurant’s owner testified under oath that he thought his employees “did a good job in this case.”
After presenting all this evidence, the Bar/Restaurant’s insurance company quickly agreed to pay the full amount of the $1,000,000.00 insurance policy protecting the Bar/Restaurant.
