How to Stay Immune From Dram Shop Lawsuits

Many dram shop lawsuits end up in courtroom trials.

As the owner of a business establishment which serves any kind of alcoholic beverages, under what are commonly referred to as "Dram Shop" laws, an individual owes a certain responsibility to the community as a whole. Basically, the essence of the dram shop laws is that if a person becomes intoxicated in Bar A, then goes and causes harm to someone due to their intoxication, Bar A can be legally held liable for that person's intoxicated actions. Many bar and restaurant owners find that these stringent dram shop laws are very hard to cope with and that they face an almost-daily liability. There are, however, ways to minimize you liability and to remain immune from dram shop lawsuits.

Instructions

1. Buy dram shop liability business insurance. No matter what steps you take to limit your liability under dram shop law, there's always a chance that someone could bring a lawsuit against you. So, make sure that you have proper insurance coverage to protect you. Usually you can just roll this insurance policy into your current business insurance plan.

2. Inform your staff. The key to keeping your establishment out of trouble in regard to dram shop laws is the education of your staff. Let them know, as well, that they can be held personally liable for over-serving a customer, and that it isn't just the business itself that can be sued.

3. Maintain a "No Tolerance" policy for over-serving. Customers who are visibly intoxicated should never be served alcohol. While this may constitute a fine line and involve subjective decisions, your policy should be that anyone who is even suspected of intoxication should be cut off from alcohol service immediately.

4. Avoid serving minors at all costs. You should check the identification of anyone who appears to be under 40 years of age, just to be safe, and never, under any circumstances, serve alcohol to minors. Most dram shop lawsuits come from minors being served alcohol at a bar and then driving home or harming themselves in some other way.

5. Keep a visible taxi-calling service in place or offer some other means to get patrons home if they've had too much to drink.

Tips & Warnings

• The best way to make sure that your policies regarding underage drinking and over-serving are being followed is to be present at your business in person. If that's not practical, make sure to hire people you trust and to only place the responsibility in the hands of those you think are responsible enough to handle it.

• Never let a customer who is intoxicated drive home in that condition. If they tell you that they're going to drive, call the police. It's much better to lose one customer than to lose your entire business to a dram shop lawsuit.