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Dram Shop Expert Witness
When alcohol establishments over-serve,
the consequences can be deadly.
With over 10,000 people killed every year by impaired drivers in the United States, countless deaths can be attributed to irresponsible serving practices.
When such tragic events occur, dram shop lawsuits may seek to establish liability upon an establishment that served the at-fault driver. These highly-litigious claims often rely upon complex evidence that can be challenging to interpret in a credible and evidence-based fashion.
Attorneys will need expert testimony to:
- Identify what inferences can be credibly made from a forensic toxicology/ blood alcohol test collected after the incident
- Explain what range of BAC can be credibly estimated for a driver at an earlier point in time, and what limitations and assumptions are required.
- Identify if the Mellanby Effect, or acute tolerance, may play a role in interpreting evidence in the case.
- Discuss the likelihood of a person displaying visible signs of intoxication when they were served, and the credibility of opinions proffered on that point.
- Review video surveillance, if available, to identify signs of intoxication and how (if) they relate to a reasonable person’s ability to discern the person’s sobriety.
- Explain industry standard guidelines on safe alcohol service according to “ServSafe: Alcohol”, “TIPS”, and other training guidelines.
A dram shop expert witness can help answer such questions.
7 arrow Clients will be provided with an expert who:
- Has first-hand experience dosing people to various alcohol concentrations, observing changes in behavior, examining estimated vs actual BAC in test subjects, and assessing performance on sobriety testing measures
- Has experience performing and interpreting standardized field sobriety tests and other behavioral observations in a forensic setting, as well as in civil litigation of DUI and dram shop claims
- Is “TIPS”, “ServSafe: Alcohol”, and "SureSell NOW" certified
- Has completed industry-leading training on the effects of drugs and alcohol on human performance