Quote:
Originally Posted by camchristo
Well, first let me just preface this by saying that I am in no way providing legal advice, just a friendly opinion.
I'm not necessarily saying that someone would win a lawsuit if they filed one against Dave. But people file ill-fated lawsuits every day and, even if they lose, it still costs the person being sued time, money and stress.
This mostly applies to bars and is known as the Dram Shop rule. A person is drinking at a bar, is obviously drunk and keeps getting served and over-served. Said person then gets in their car and kills someone in a car accident on their way home. The bar can be sued by the family of the person killed. So, not only will the driver be sued, but the bar will be too. People have won suits like that before.
So, I'm not saying it applies to a private party like it would to a bar. However, if one of his guests got wasted, got in their car and killed someone, it wouldn't be a stretch for Dave to be named in the lawsuit. Particulary if the person who caused the accident was a kid with minimal limits on their car insurance policy and no assets to speak of. The injured party gets wind that the person was partying at Dave's house, someone does a little research and finds out Dave owns his home and a few others, and all of a sudden he and his homeowners carrier are named in the suit. He might be dismissed on Summary Judgment, or he might be in it til the end and found not liable. Either way, a lot of stress that could have been avoided. **** happens but there are ways to minimize the potential.
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My dad owned a bar for years. Got sued by a regular who he considered a friend. The guy was drunk & fell off his barstool, injuring himself (I don't even remember what the injury was, but it was NOT serious.) He got money for it.
He was sued at least 3 times for someone who left the bar & later got arrested for a DWI or into an accident. Thrown out every time since it was proven these people went to OTHER bars or parties after my dad's place. Still, time, stress & $$$ spent.
