Were You Injured by a Drunk Driver?

If You Were Hit by an Intoxicated Driver We Can Help You Recover Compensation

Have you been involved in an accident with a drunk driver? If so, you may rightly wish to seek justice by filing a personal injury lawsuit. You may also have suffered serious injuries, and you may be in need of financial compensation.

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Dallas drunk driving accident attorney Michael Grossman from Grossman Law Offices is here to help you understand what you will be up against when you file a drunk driving accident lawsuit. These lawsuits are complex, and much more technical than standard car accident cases. However, our experienced attorneys can make sure that you receive the compensation you need.

Texas Dram Shop Act

The Texas Dram Shop Act is a set of laws designed to hold sellers of alcoholic beverages responsible for the accidents caused by their patrons. This act had two goals: to make sure that drunk driving accident victims receive adequate compensation, and to make bars, restaurants, and other establishments serve alcohol responsibly. Prior to these laws, bars and other establishments had financial incentives that were at odds with other people’s safety.

Before the Dram Shop Act, victims of drunk driving accidents could only bring a lawsuit against the drunk driver. This meant that bars had motivation to serve as much alcohol as a patron could drink so they would make more money. They were not responsible for that patron’s actions, so they had no motivation to make sure that their patrons were safe. However, after the Dram Shop Act, bars and other alcohol-serving establishments were vulnerable to lawsuits filed by drunk driving accident victims.

What is a bar prevented from doing by the Dram Shop Act and when can an establishment be held liable?

A bar, restaurant, or other establishment must apply for a license to serve alcohol. This license is only granted on one condition: that an alcohol retailer meets certain standards that are designed to make sure that the alcohol retailer is serving alcohol responsibly. Specifically, bars must have some sort of system in place to track the number of drinks served to each patron, and they are responsible for making sure that no patrons are served to the point of intoxication. Contrary to popular belief, being drunk in public in the state of Texas is illegal, and when bars contribute to public intoxication, they are effectively breaking the law and can be held liable.

Of course, every person responds to alcohol differently based on any number of factors, and in some cases, a person can become intoxicated at a bar without the establishment realizing it until the person is already drunk. In these situations, the establishment is responsible for having some sort of system in place to prevent the drunken individual from leaving and endangering other people. If necessary, bars must call police to prevent intoxicated individuals from leaving.

Whenever a patron leaves a bar while intoxicated, whether or not that patron intends to drive, that patron is likely breaking the law – and so is the bar. When bars or other alcohol retailers break the law in this fashion, they are committing a form of negligence, and they can be held liable for any injuries or deaths that result from the intoxicated patron’s actions.

Let An Experienced Lawyer Help You With Your Drunk Driving Accident Case

It may seem like the above concepts are relatively straightforward, but lawsuits against drunk drivers or alcohol-serving establishments are not simple. Non-attorneys have almost no chance of securing any settlement at all. However, an experienced drunk driving accident attorney can help you overcome the main challenges you will face in a drunk driving accident lawsuit: jury perception, aggressive defense lawyers, the inclusion of a third party, and the boldness of insurance companies due to recent tort reform.

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Perception of the Jury

Ultimately, a personal injury lawsuit is only as valuable as the settlement a jury would potentially award the plaintiff. Any experienced lawyer can explain the numerous technicalities of a drunk driving accident case to a jury, prove up their client’s damages, and illustrate how the law shows that their client deserves compensation. The problem is that juries often do not understand drunk driving accident cases, particularly the Dram Shop Act. When a drunk driver hurts or kills another person, he or she usually goes to jail. Juries often see this as just punishment, and so they are reluctant to agree to further punishment, especially when that punishment is directed towards a bar or restaurant.

Juries do not realize that bars often act contrary to public safety and that they need to take responsibility for those actions. They also simply do not realize how large a toll these accidents take on their victims. You need an attorney on your side who can speak a jury’s language and show that you need compensation to get back on your feet. Being injured by a drunk driver puts a severe financial, emotional, and physical strain on a victim. Knowing that the drunk driver is in jail does very little to pay for a victim’s medical bills. Our attorneys understand this, and we can make sure that the jury in your case understands it as well.

Aggressive Defense Lawyers

Our firm only represents victims in drunk driving accident cases. However, ever since the Dram Shop Act, some attorneys have decided to focus entirely on defending liquor retailers from dram shop causes of action. Only a small number of attorneys are willing to take on these cases, and they typically only take dram shop defense cases. This means that they have hundreds of cases under their belt, and they are some of the most experienced defense lawyers you will face in the legal world. Most personal injury firms and virtually all non-attorneys simply cannot be successful against these experienced defense lawyers.

However, the legal professionals at Grossman Law Offices have faced virtually every insurance company and defense firm in the country, and we have successfully resolved hundreds of drunk driving accident cases. We know how to build a strong liquor liability case, and we believe in making sure that our clients receive the compensation they deserve for their injuries. We do not let our clients fall victim to aggressive defense lawyers.

Inclusion of a Third Party

In most drunk driving accident lawsuits, the defense attorneys will argue that the drunk driver was the sole cause of the accident, and so the bar should not be punished for the individual’s actions. While it may be true that the drunk driver is primarily responsible for the accident, any bar that served him or her to intoxication is liable as well, and should be held responsible for that negligence. Our attorneys will make sure that a jury understands this concept. We are dedicated to making sure that all the parties responsible for your injuries are brought to justice and that you receive the full amount of compensation you deserve.

Insurance Company Tactics

Behind every liquor liability defense lawyer is a large, multi-national insurance company pulling the strings. Insurance companies do everything they can to pay accident victims as little as possible. In Texas, these insurance companies have one massive advantage: juries cannot be told that there is an insurance policy applicable to a lawsuit. This means that insurance companies can use deceitful, underhanded tactics to try to deny a claim, but the jury will never be the wiser because no one is even allowed to tell them that an insurance company is involved.

Furthermore, liquor liability laws in Texas have become much more restrictive recently. These changes have made insurance companies bold, and they will take cases to trial that they never would have considered previously. Simply put, insurance companies can get away with a lot these days, and you need an experienced attorney with a proven track record to frighten them into offering you the settlement you need.

Do you have a legal question?
Enter your phone number below and let's talk.
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Let Grossman Law Offices Help You Build A Strong Case

Dallas drunk driving accident lawyer Michael Grossman from Grossman Law Offices has been helping drunk driving accident victims seek compensation for twenty years. We have successfully resolved hundreds of cases against negligent bars and drunk drivers. We know how to handle the many hurdles that you will face when filing a dram shop cause of action, but we also know how to build a strong lawsuit against a drunk driver. In virtually all drunk driving accidents, the drunk driver is primarily at fault, and we make sure that our cases reflect that. We are dedicated to bringing drunk drivers to justice in addition to the bars that serve them. In other words, we want to help make sure that every party liable for your injuries takes responsibility for their negligence.

We have a successful track record, and many defense firms and insurance companies will offer our clients sizable settlements once they realize we are on the case because they do not want to face our attorneys in court. So if you or someone in your family has been in a drunk driving accident, contact Dallas drunk driving accident attorney Michael Grossman for a free consultation. Do not let the negligence of bars and drunk drivers go unpunished. Let Grossman Law Offices help you secure the compensation you need and the justice you deserve.

What are dram shop laws?
Can a bar be held liable for a drunken driver?
Can I still sue if the other driver was not criminally charged?

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