Dram shop

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CASE: negligent overservice of alcohol resulting in wrongful death

FACTS: Driver, a 24-year-old male, was served and consumed at least one bottle of wine with a meal within approximately 75 minutes while at Defendant Establishment #1 with a group of friends. Driver and his friends then drove to Defendant Establishment #2, just a few minutes down the road. In the 90 minutes the driver was there, he was served and consumed three “tall” mixed drinks and a shot. After the bar closed, his friends tried to stop the driver from getting in his car by taking his keys, but the driver stole the keys back and chose to drive himself home. Approximately an hour later, the driver was driving the wrong way on an interstate when he collided with Plaintiff decedent’s car, killing them both instantaneously. At the time of death, the driver’s blood alcohol content was almost three times the legal limit. The Plaintiff decedent was a 20-year-old college student on her way home from work.

DEFENSE: Defendant Establishment #1 argued that the driver was not “visibly intoxicated” when he left their establishment, or even intoxicated at all. Specifically, the defense toxicology expert opined that even if the driver drank as much as Plaintiff alleged, his BAC still would have been under the legal limit. This Defendant also argued that liquor licensees have no obligation to monitor how much a patron who buys wine by the bottle is drinking, and that an entity cannot be held directly liable under the dram shop statute (RSA 507-F) for its negligent training and supervision of wait staff.

Defendant Establishment #2 argued that the driver was not “visibly intoxicated” before they served him.

INJURIES: The Plaintiff decedent was killed in the crash.

SPECIAL DAMAGES: Lost earning capacity: between $3,507,129 and $4,009,175.

SETTLEMENT: The parties settled the case at mediation for a confidential amount.

PLAINTIFF’S COUNSEL: Randolph J. Reis, Kimberly Kirkland, and Kara Skogsholm (Reis & Kirkland, PLLC); Jim Normand & Scott Wanner (Normand Higham)