Dram Shop Liability Attorney Fort Worth, TX

How Parker Law Firm Injury Lawyers Helps With a Dram Shop Claim

A dram shop attorney looks past the drunk driver to the business that kept serving them. After a serious crash, the intoxicated person is the obvious defendant. Brad Parker also asks how that person got so drunk and who kept pouring.

That question matters because many drunk drivers carry little insurance. A valid claim against a bar, restaurant, or nightclub can be the difference between a recovery that covers your losses and one that falls far short.

In the video below, Brad Parker explains how recovery works in a dram shop claim.

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When you hire us, we:

• Find out where the at-fault person was drinking in the hours before the crash
• Send preservation letters so video, receipts, and records are not destroyed
• Interview staff, patrons, and police officers
• Bring in experts on blood alcohol and timing when they strengthen your case
• Pursue every responsible party and every available insurance policy
• Negotiate with the insurers and prepare your case for trial

We work on a contingency fee, so you don’t owe attorney’s fees unless we recover compensation for you.

What Is Dram Shop Liability?

Dram shop liability is the legal responsibility a licensed alcohol seller can have for harm caused by a customer it overserved. In Texas, it comes from Alcoholic Beverage Code §2.02.

Most dram shop cases follow a DUI accident, but the law is not limited to car crashes. A business may also be responsible when an overserved patron commits an assault, causes a fight, or injures someone in another way. For a plain-English walk through the statute itself, see our guide to dram shop liability laws in Texas.

Which Businesses Can Be Held Responsible?

Any person or business that sells or serves alcohol under a Texas license or permit can be a defendant. That usually means:

• Bars and taverns
• Restaurants
• Nightclubs and lounges
• Liquor stores and convenience stores
• Event venues, stadiums, and caterers

More than one business can share responsibility. If the driver stopped at two bars, we investigate both.

Who Can File a Dram Shop Lawsuit?

The people most often hurt by an overserved patron can bring a claim. That includes:

• Other drivers and their passengers
• Pedestrians and cyclists
• Passengers in the intoxicated driver’s car
• People assaulted by an intoxicated patron
• Family members of someone killed, through a wrongful death claim

These cases are technical, and the facts decide whether a claim is viable. A short consultation can tell you whether a dram shop claim fits your situation.

How Do You Prove a Bar Overserved Someone?

You have to show what the bar knew at the moment it served the last drinks. The question is not just how much the person drank, but how they looked and acted when staff kept serving them.

We rebuild the hours before the crash, not just the moments before impact. The evidence we look for includes:

• Bar records. Tabs, receipts, and point-of-sale data show what was sold, when, and to whom.
• Surveillance video. Cameras inside and outside the business can show stumbling, slurring, or other signs.
• Witnesses. Bartenders, servers, security staff, and other patrons can describe the person’s condition.
• Police and TABC records. Officers’ reports, blood alcohol results, and any Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission investigation.
• Training records. Whether the server completed seller-server training and whether the business enforced its own rules.

Businesses often rely on a “safe harbor” defense based on employee training. We look closely at whether that defense actually applies. Our Texas dram shop law guide explains how it works.

What Compensation Can You Recover in a Dram Shop Case?

You can seek the same damages you would claim against the drunk driver, from the business that overserved them. Those include economic damages such as:

• Medical bills, past and future
• Lost wages and lost earning capacity
• Rehabilitation and in-home care
• Property damage

You can also seek non-economic damages for pain and suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, physical impairment, and loss of enjoyment of life. In a death case, family members can seek damages for their loss of the person’s support, care, and companionship.

The business and the driver may each blame the other. Under Texas proportionate responsibility rules, a jury assigns each party a share of fault.

Why Should You Act Quickly?

Evidence in a dram shop case can disappear within days. Many businesses record over their surveillance video on a short cycle, staff move on, and witnesses forget what they saw.

The legal deadline is generally two years from the injury, but the practical deadline is much shorter. If you or someone you love was seriously hurt or killed by an intoxicated driver, find out where that person was drinking and talk to a lawyer before that trail goes cold.

Brad Parker has practiced personal injury law in Texas since 1985 and has represented injured people and families in dram shop cases involving serious injuries and deaths. You can talk with him directly about what happened.

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