You all have kind hearts and I wouldn't ask any other people to help us through these tough times. 
-
J. Landeros
Mother of a Child Who Sustained a Brain Injury
Dallas Attorneys Sue Applebee's
Following two distinct fatal accidents, the Dallas Drunk Driving Accident Attorneys of Grossman Law Offices have filed suit in two separate wrongful death cases involving the defendant Applebee's.
Attorney Keith Purdue said the following, "Both of these cases follow quite similar fact patterns and involve the same defendant, but we fully intend to litigate each case separate from one another based on their individual merit."
Attorney Michael Grossman added, "Having a liquor license is analogous to having a driver's license; it is a privilege and not an inherent right. Thus, when an establishment such as Applebee's acquires a liquor license, they do so with the explicit understanding that there are alcohol service rules which must be followed, and that there are consequences for breaking those rules."
In both lawsuits, plaintiffs allege that Applebee's recklessly disregarded the alcohol service rules established by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. Both lawsuits were filed in Dallas County courts and cite specific allegations against two different Metroplex area Applebee's restaurants.
For many years, Texas lawmakers recognized that the negligent actions of bars were a primary contributing factor in alcohol-related fatalities and injuries, yet bars were immune from any type of liability. Essentially, bars were able to break the alcohol service laws without any significant degree of accountability. To make matters worse, bars had significant financial motivation to serve large quantities of alcohol, which was entirely at odds with the well being of the general public. In 1987, the Texas Legislature passed Texas' first dram shop laws which made bars civilly liable for injury or death which resulted from their violation of the alcohol service rules.
Recovery for passenger who suffered broken leg in a drunken driving accident.
$109,500.00
$41,000.00
$30.00
(policy limits) Our firm was hired to pursue an intoxicated driver who killed an elderly school crossing guard. The fatal accident occurred as the decedent was escorting a woman and her child across the roadway through a crosswalk. The defendant then sped through the school zone, in an intoxicated a state, and struck the decedent who died on the scene.
The family hired our firm to investigate and pursue the defendant under a wrongful death cause of action. Following our investigation and preliminary vehicle inspection, our attorneys issued a Stowers' demand to the defendants. A significant factor in resolving this claim is that merely days before we submitted our demand to the defendant' insurance carrier, we won a large case against the very same insurance carrier, which was one of several such victories secured against the carrier in our firm's history. Our threats of litigation were therefore heeded and the defendants offered policy limits to settle the claim without the need to file suit.
Confidential
Confidential
Confidential
(policy limits were $100k) Recovery for wife of a motorcyclist who was killed in a drunk driving accident.
$97,500.00
$48,750.00
$0.00
A young woman lost her life after a bar over served her to more than three times the legal limit resulting in her burning to death in a single-vehicle accident. Witnesses stated that she was so intoxicated that she could barely make it to her vehicle without assistance. Through litigation, our attorneys ascertained the necessary evidence to prove that the establishment provided alcohol to an obviously intoxicated person, thus resulting in her ultimate demise.
$550,000.00
$220,000.00
$25,000.00
(policy limits) An incredibly intoxicated driver drove head-on into a vehicle, killing several of the vehicle's occupants. The defendants had limited assets, yet an alternative policy was uncovered, which the defendants argued was non applicable. Under threat of litigation, our attorneys negotiated a settlement for the policy limits.
$300,000.00
$132,000.00
$0.00
(policy limits) Recovery for pedestrian who suffered a broken leg when he was hit by a drunken driver.
$100,000.00
$33,000.00
$1,000.00
Our firm was hired by the minor child and parents of a young man who was killed in a motorcycle accident after being over served alcohol at a South Padre Island bar. The plaintiffs hired our firm to investigate the claim on the basis that the decedent was over the legal limit at the time of his death. In initial attempts to settle the case out of court, the defendants denied liability. Suit was filed soon thereafter.
The defendants initially argued that the decedent never consumed alcohol on their premises. Through physical evidence and deposition testimony to the contrary, we were able to conclusively prove that the decedent had indeed been drinking at the establishment.
The defendants then asserted allegations that the decedent's minor child was not actually his biological child, which would bar his claim entirely. A DNA test was performed and this argument was defeated.
The defendants then asserted the safe harbor defense. Our attorneys argued that the defendants did not qualify for safe harbor protection due to the fact that their servers were not all licensed providers. However, while this element was being addressed, our attorneys focused their attention on addressing the second element of the safe harbor defense regarding the bar's encouragement of the over service of alcohol. The defendants claimed that they would never serve the double-shot Bacardi cocktails that witnesses claimed the decedent drank several of. We sent private investigators into the bar to order the same drinks that the decedent consumed on the night of his death and the very same bar tenders who over served the decedent, without hesitation, served copious amounts of alcohol to the investigators, all of which was captured on hidden camera.
Once the safe harbor defense was defeated, the defendants argued that the decedent's BAC was low enough at the time of his death (as recorded by the hospital) that he would not have necessarily appeared obviously intoxicated to the servers and therefore the bar should not be held liable even if he had been over served. Eyewitness testimony refuted this.
Additionally, our firm's testifying medical expert reviewed the medical records related to the emergency helicopter flight that transported the decedent to the hospital after his accident. She determined that the EMS technicians administered numerous blood transfusions while in flight. Armed with this newfound data, our medical expert reverse extrapolated and determined conclusively that the decedent's BAC was actually in the range of .19-.21 at the time of the accident, though it was drastically diluted by the time he arrived at the hospital, which accounted for the relatively low BAC found in the hospital's medical records. This testimony proved to be pivotal in the case, resulting in a successful recovery for our clients.
$350,000.00
$140,000.00
$40,000.00
Our client suffered a punctured colon and numerous soft tissue injuries in an alcohol-related car accident. The accident occurred as the defendant driver crashed his car into a concrete median. The plaintiff, a passenger in the vehicle, alleged that the defendant driver was over served alcohol to such an extent that he was several times the legal limit. As such, a claim was brought against the defendant driver and the bar which over served him. A settlement was reached with the defendant driver and the plaintiff turned his focus on the bar in question. The case was resolved successfully through litigation. Based on the egregious conduct of the bar and it's numerous TABC violations, the defendant's liquor license was revoked soon after the case was resolved.
$337,500.00
$134,000.00
$3,750.00
Recovered for client injured in a liquor liability accident.
$100,000.00
$40,000.00
$5,000.00