Dram Shop Cases
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Dram Shop Case Attorneys in Columbia, SC
Dram Shop Lawyer: Our Legal Team is Ready to Help Victims in Columbia, SC and the Midlands of South Carolina
South Carolina Dram Shop laws can make a business liable for providing alcohol to a minor or to a person who is clearly intoxicated if that person causes injury, death or property damage in an alcohol related accident. South Carolina Dram Shop laws differ from other injury cases in that they impose liability on a third party (person selling or giving out the alcohol) rather than the individual driver or owner that may have caused the car crash. This does not mean that the person that caused the accident is not held liable. The intoxicated driver is still responsible for any harm caused. The Dram Shop laws establish liability in addition to the intoxicated drivers liability.
Dram Shop Liability
In addition to Dram Shop laws, similar liability can be extended to people who provide alcohol to minors or intoxicated persons in a social setting. This is referred to as social host liability.
An example is a patron at a bar. If someone is at a bar for a significant period of time and they have ordered numerous drinks, begin slurring their words, become glassy eyed and fall down when they try to walk, and then are still served again, the bar is serving someone that is visibly intoxicated. This person then leaves and crashes into a car as they are driving home. The injured party in the car crash can sue the bar for continuing to serve a person who is visibly intoxicated. A similar scenario would apply for a minor.
South Carolina law also imposes liability for a social host setting in addition to a business that serves alcohol. However, the social host liability is focused on serving an underage person who then becomes impaired and causes an accident. In South Carolina, the legal drinking age is 21, so if a social host serves a minor, they could be sued for the damages caused by the intoxicated minor. The issue of visibly intoxicated adults is not generally part of social host liability in South Carolina, as it is in other Dram Shop cases.
If your injury or a loved ones death was caused by one of the many unfortunate drunk driving accidents that occur in Columbia, Lexington, or another area in the Midlands of South Carolina, hiring a qualified attorney right away can be the key to favorably resolving your case. Our legal team can help to determine whether the drunk driver was enabled by being over served when the driver was clearly intoxicated. Your attorneys job is to fight for you in court and hold accountable those who caused your injury or your loved ones death, and the legal team at Best & Flatt are ready to help.
