There are many bars, clubs and restaurants in Tempe. Overservice of alcohol and excessive consumption of alcohol can lead to drunk driving, serious injuries and fatalities.
Dram shop liability generally refers to laws that impose responsibility upon bars, liquor stores that serve alcohol, to intoxicated persons, or those who have been overserved, who cause injuries to others as a result of alcohol related car crashes.
In Arizona those who furnish liquor have a duty to exercise care for the protection of others, this includes ceasing to furnish alcohol to customers, to protect members of the public who might be injured as a result of a customer’s intoxication or being overserved.
I represented a mother whose daughter, an ASU student, was a passenger on a motorcycle. The driver was overserved at a Tempe bar. He was drunk, he crashed the motorcycle, and my client’s daughter was killed. At a jury trial the drunk driver and the bar were each found responsible, and the jury awarded damages for the wrongful death.
In another case, I represented a young man bicycling home from work, who was on a sidewalk. A drunk driver was overserved at a Tempe bar, he drove his vehicle on the sidewalk, and ran over my client, who suffered multiple leg fractures, requiring surgery. A lawsuit was filed, resulting in a settlement with the insurance companies for the bar and the drunk driver.