Have You Been Injured in a Bar, Nightclub, or Restaurant?
The Rockford Personal Injury Lawyers, understand and seek to find justice for those injured or harmed while at a bar or night club. Our office has experience in lawsuits and injury cases involving injuries sustained at bars based on slips and falls due to wet floors, foreign substances in food/beverages, burns from hot beverages/foods, as well as battery’s and excessive force by bouncers and security staff at establishments serving alcohol that have injured customers and patrons.
Bar Injuries
If you have been injured due to a bouncer, security staff member, or patron’s conduct at a bar please continue reading below: Our office has frequently been consulted and retained on cases involving injuries from such situations. From hostile and aggressive tactics to gain compliance used by bar employees, to vicious attacks that have left individuals with permanent injuries, chipped and broken teeth, fractured facial bones, broken jaws, and other injuries. While a bar may escort disruptive patrons from their establishment the use of force must be reasonable under the circumstances to accomplish that goal. If someone is cooperative and does not pose a threat to any other patron or employee there is no need for a hostile or aggressive removal that can cause someone to be injured. If you or a loved one has been injured at a bar or a night club by security staff/bouncers please contact us immediately for the following reasons:
We approach any of these situations occurring at a bar from multiple angles to make the strongest case going forward for our clients. This is an example of what we can do if retained in a timely manner following an injury:
- Sending out a demand to preserve media and closed circuit television/security cameras on premises. This means that video will not be overwritten or destroyed without the client having a separate cause of action for the destruction of evidence that would be favorable to our case. Should the materials still be destroyed we have a separate lawsuit to potentially file, as well as an instruction if the underlying case goes to trial that the evidence that WOULD have been preserved on the video would have been favorable to the plaintiff (the injured party).
- Investigating facts surrounding the injury: i. talking to witnesses, reviewing digital media, iii. Reviewing medical records, iv. Discussing the injuries and treatment with the client’s healthcare provider(s).
- Review ways to earn a recovery. Whether directly from the bar or businesses insurance policy by filing a claim and demand, or by initiating a lawsuit against same based on a number of theories including a possible dram-shop act case.
Financial Recovery Because of a Bar Injury
The Illinois Dram-Shop Act found under (235 ILCS 5/6-21) acts as a secondary method of potential recovery for anyone hurt or injured by someone who was intoxicated due to over serving of alcohol by an establishment that serves alcohol. While Illinois does cap the total amount possibly recovered under this specific theory, there are usually other causes of action based upon a negligence theory that may be applicable to your specific case as well.
To prevail under a dram shop theory we need to show the following:
- that the vendor sold alcohol to a patron that caused an injury
- That the injuries or damages were in fact caused by the patron.
- The business was the proximate cause of the intoxication of the patron.
- The intoxication was at least one major cause in the third-party’s injury.
Additionally we have filed lawsuits against bars, and establishments that sell liquor for negligence, negligent retention, negligent training, negligent supervision that are not capped by the Illinois civil statutes for the recovery we can earn a client.
The Illinois Dram Shop Act
Illinois’ Dram Shop Act (235 ILCS 5/6-21) lets a person injured by an intoxicated person bring a claim against the bar, restaurant, or liquor licensee that sold or served the alcohol that caused the intoxication. Unlike an ordinary negligence case, you generally don’t have to prove the bar knew it was overserving. The focus is on whether the bar’s alcohol contributed to the intoxication that caused your injury.
Dram shop claims come up in two main situations:
- Drunk driving crashes, where a driver was served at a bar or restaurant before causing a collision.
- Fights and assaults, where an intoxicated patron attacks someone inside or outside the bar.
Family members who lose financial support or companionship because someone was injured or killed may also have a claim under the Act.
Two Rules That Make Dram Shop Cases Different
A one-year deadline. A dram shop claim must be filed within one year after the cause of action accrues. That’s half the usual two-year deadline for injury cases, and it catches many people off guard.
Damages are capped. Recovery under the Dram Shop Act is limited by statute, and the caps are adjusted every year by the Illinois Comptroller. Because of those caps, a dram shop claim usually works alongside other claims, such as the drunk driver’s own insurance and your uninsured or underinsured motorist coverage, rather than replacing them.
When a Bar Is Responsible for Its Own Negligence
Separate from the Dram Shop Act, bars, nightclubs, and restaurants owe their customers reasonable care in how they run their business. Injuries can happen because of:
- Inadequate or poorly trained security, or bouncers who use excessive force.
- Ignoring a known threat or an escalating fight.
- Overcrowding and blocked exits.
- Wet floors, broken stairs, poor lighting, and other dangerous conditions.
Those claims follow premises liability and negligent security principles.
Evidence Disappears Quickly
Bars record over surveillance video on short cycles. Receipts, tabs, and point-of-sale records show what was served and when. Staff and patrons scatter. We send preservation demands right away and work to identify every establishment that served the person who hurt you, since more than one bar may be involved.
Quick Answers About Bar and Dram Shop Claims
Can I sue the bar that served a drunk driver who hit me?
Often, yes. The Illinois Dram Shop Act allows claims against the licensee whose alcohol caused the driver’s intoxication. File within one year.
Can I bring a dram shop claim if I was the one drinking?
Generally, no. The Act protects people injured by an intoxicated person, not the intoxicated person themselves.
Do social hosts face dram shop liability?
Generally, the Act applies to businesses that sell or serve alcohol, not private hosts, though Illinois has specific rules for adults who provide alcohol to minors.
What does it cost to talk to you?
Nothing. Consultations are free. Call (815) 964-8303, any time. Related: DUI crash injuries.
Reviewed by Attorney Paul M. Marriett, Rockford Injury Lawyers.
A Rockford Personal Injury Law Firm That Stands Up for Injured Victims
Meeting with our lawyers is free, and there is no fee for unless we win. If you have questions about an injury case or want to schedule a free consultation with a Rockford bar injury attorney, contact us 24/7/365 at (815) 964-8303. Contact a Rockford personal injury lawyer TODAY for help!