Clear Lake injury lawyers note that establishments that serve patrons alcohol on their premises fall into the category of “dram shops” under Texas law. The Dram Shop Law in the Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code (“the Code”) permits injured parties to bring civil liabilities claims like personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits against establishments that knowingly served a drunken patron or knowingly allowed a drunken patron to drive away from their establishment.
Our Clear Lake injury lawyers point out that the law requires the establishment and its employees to have knowledge of the patron’s drunkenness in order to be liable. Most venues and their employees will take shelter in the Safe Harbor Defense and claim that they had no knowledge that the patron was drunk.
The dram shop provisions of the Code allow you to hold alcohol-serving establishments liable for drunken driving wrecks their patrons caused. Basically, the Code makes the servers vicariously liable for drunken driving accidents caused by their failures to comply with the dram shop rules.
This vicarious liability proceeds in part from the legal premise that people whose BAC exceeds .08% (the Texas standard for drunkenness) cannot accurately judge for themselves whether or not they are too drunk to drive. So the alcohol servers are responsible for accurately making this judgment for them. The Code requires a server that believes a patron is drunk to ensure the public’s safety by making every reasonable effort to prevent that patron from drinking any additional alcohol or driving.
So when an alcohol-serving venue knowingly serves alcohol to a drunken patron or knowingly allows a drunken patron to drive away, and then the patron wrecks into you or a loved one, you can hold the establishment vicariously liable for causing the wreck. Without these legal provisions of the Texas Dram Shop Law, it could be very difficult for you to hold the server or venue accountable even where their failure to abide by dram shop laws was the primary cause of the accident.
Even with the dram shop laws in place, proving vicarious liability is challenging. When you file your civil liabilities claim, the law places the burden squarely upon you to prove the validity of your claim against the defendant. To meet your burden of proof, you must prove four essential elements against each defendant. You must show that:
Making a valid case for dram shop liability requires careful proof and the well-honed legal skills and arguments of a skilled Clear Lake injury lawyer with years of experience successfully proving such cases. Contact the experienced Clear Lake injury lawyers at Denena & Points when you have questions about an accident injury caused by a drunken driver. Your initial consultation is free.