Dram Shop Liability
Thomas Rubin & Kelley PC defends restaurants, bars, nightclubs, hotels, and liquor stores, and their insurers, in dram shop claims throughout Arizona. Typical matters include claims following drunk driving collisions, assaults on or near the premises, alleged service to minors or obviously intoxicated patrons, and related negligent security claims. Our attorneys handle claims under A.R.S. §§4-311 and 4-312 and work with toxicology experts to reconstruct a patron's evening. The firm's managing partner chairs the Dram Shop Practice Group for Your House Counsel®, the national consortium of law firms of which the firm is a member.
Dram Shop Claims We Defend
We defend claims alleging that a licensee served alcohol to an obviously intoxicated patron or to a person under the legal drinking age, and that the patron then injured a third party. Typical cases include drunk driving collisions, fights and assaults on or near the premises, and falls. Dram shop claims are commonly joined with automobile or premises liability claims, and the firm coordinates the defense with counsel for the other defendants.
Our attorneys also defend related negligence claims against hospitality businesses, including inadequate security and negligent hiring, training, or supervision of staff, and provide prevention guidance to licensees and their carriers on service policies that reduce future exposure.
Preserving the Evidence of Service
Most dram shop cases turn on what the server could observe. The firm examines the police report, blood alcohol evidence, and the timeline of the patron's evening, and gives the carrier an early read on whether the plaintiff can prove the statutory elements.
Evidence in these cases is lost quickly. We move at once to preserve point-of-sale records, receipts and tabs, surveillance video, staffing schedules, and training records, and we identify the employees and patrons who interacted with the customer. When the timing or level of intoxication is disputed, the firm retains a toxicology expert.
Reports address liability under the statute, the comparative fault of the patron and other parties, damages, and coverage questions such as liquor liability exclusions in general liability policies.
Dram shop claims can carry significant exposure, and they are usually tried together with the underlying auto or assault claim. Our attorneys prepare these cases for trial early, so the carrier makes settlement decisions with a clear view of how the case will be received in court.
Issues That Shape Dram Shop Cases
The central factual questions in a dram shop case are what the server observed at the time of service and what identification practices were in place. We develop that evidence through receipts, surveillance video, staff testimony, and toxicology, and we test the timeline between the last drink and the incident.
Juries weigh the patron's own conduct alongside the conduct of the licensee, other drivers, and nonparties, and the patron frequently carries the largest share of fault. Our attorneys build that allocation case from the outset and evaluate any claim the patron brings directly against the licensee under A.R.S. §4-312.
Dram shop claims frequently involve a death and punitive damages allegations, which raise the stakes for both the licensee and its carrier. The firm's article on wrongful death damages provides further reading on how those claims are valued.
A National Network for Hospitality Clients
Through Your House Counsel, the firm works with member firms across the country. For carriers and hospitality groups with locations in more than one state, that network provides consistent dram shop defense counsel in each jurisdiction, with Thomas Rubin & Kelley PC handling the Arizona matters.
After an Incident at a Licensed Establishment
After an incident at a licensed establishment, early contact with counsel helps preserve the evidence these cases depend on. Licensees and their insurers can assign a liquor liability claim by phone at (602) 274-8289 or online through our contact page.