Waterbury Liquor Liability Lawyer

Liquor Liability Attorney in Waterbury, CT

If you suffer a car accident because of a drunk driver, it’s reasonable to want justice. However, the drunk driver may not be the only one at fault for your accident. It’s vital to pursue all your legal avenues and investigate how that drunkenness started. Under Connecticut’s liquor liability laws, you can hold the bar, restaurant, liquor store, or homeowner who made the driver drunk liable for your damages. Reach out to a Waterbury liquor liability lawyer who can represent you.

The legal team at Pilicy Injury Law knows how hard it can be to put a legal case together after suffering an injury, property damage, or death because of someone’s drunken negligence. That’s why it’s so important to hire a Waterbury liquor liability attorney to identify every party responsible for causing the accident you suffered. Your liquor liability case could be complicated, so you should hire a lawyer who’s well-versed in the state’s liquor liability laws.

Why Hire a Liquor Liability Lawyer?

There are many important reasons to hire a liquor liability lawyer. Most of all, you don’t want to move on from this ordeal without knowing that everyone responsible for it was held accountable. Without an experienced lawyer, it may be difficult to accomplish this feat. A lawyer can investigate your claim and pursue justice accordingly. At Pilicy Injury Law, we can bring experience, focus, and empathy to your case, as we have with countless other clients.

Drunk drivers cause accidents all over the world, and Connecticut sees many such cases. Recent statistical data from the state’s Department of Transportation showed that nearly 130 people were killed in vehicular accidents involving alcohol in the state, and those fatalities accounted for 35% of all the state’s fatalities in 2022. Throughout the country, nearly 34 people are killed in drunk driving accidents on a daily basis, according to statistics from the NHTSA.

Surviving an encounter with a drunk driver can be overwhelming for many reasons, especially if you lost someone in that accident. It’s common to deal with nightmares, guilt, and newfound fears of driving and/or alcohol. It’s important that you deal with these issues before they get out of control. A local trauma survivor support group, like Families for Safe Streets (FSS) or the Crash Support Network, can give you a safe space to vent your frustrations and start to heal.

Connecticut Liquor Liability Laws

Under the state’s Dram Shop Act, victims of accidents caused by drunken individuals may seek additional compensatory damages from establishments that over-served drunken patrons. Pursuing damages against a restaurant, bar, liquor store, or homeowner may not be your immediate plan of action after getting struck by a drunk driver, but it can be a feasible solution and a way to hold the right people responsible for ultimately causing your accident.

Dram shop liability generally applies when a bar or restaurant serves alcoholic beverages to a visibly intoxicated person, who then goes on to cause a drunk driving accident. Generally, dram shop liability is capped at $250,000 unless the drunk driver in question was a minor under 21 years old. Then, the cap does not apply.

Social host liability applies to owners of private residences who overserve drunken people, who then cause a drunk driving accident. There is generally no damage cap in cases involving social host liability, though the liability is far greater if the host was serving alcohol to a minor.

What Can a Liquor Liability Lawyer Do?

A liquor liability lawyer’s primary goal is to assist their clients in holding certain establishments accountable for their reckless actions in serving intoxicated individuals. Without an experienced personal injury lawyer on your side, holding these places responsible for what happened can be next to impossible. You will need a good lawyer’s experience, knowledge, and determination to make sure everyone who caused your accident faces justice. Here’s what a liquor liability lawyer can do:

• Investigation. To pursue a damage claim against an establishment, you need to prove that they recklessly served a drunk person more alcohol. Talking to the bar or restaurant’s owner may prove fruitless, as they may be willing to lie to protect their business. A lawyer can subpoena video or audio recordings, gather witness statements, and bring in help from detectives to prove your case.

• Filing claims. Filing a legal claim can be complicated if you have never done it before. Your lawyer can handle all the paperwork of your case and make sure your claim is filed under the proper law. Filing a claim yourself could result in it being thrown out due to an improper filing error.

• Litigation. Many personal injury claims are settled through negotiation before ever seeing the inside of a courtroom. However, other claims do make it to court, especially when you’re going against a business that’s willing to go to war to protect its reputation against a civil claim. In this case, you will want a lawyer with significant litigation experience who has handled cases like yours in the past.
• Negotiation. If your case does not make it to court, it will be because your lawyer successfully negotiated a settlement with the responsible party. Negotiation is an art form that requires finesse, experience, and the ability to read people. It’s generally not something you can do yourself. What you need is someone who knows how to talk to people, lean on leverage, and do anything to protect their clients’ interests.

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Reach Out to a Liquor Liability Lawyer Today

It can be emotional and frustrating to pursue legal action against someone who caused you irreparable harm, particularly in the form of a drunk driving accident in Waterbury. Getting into an accident, even when you were cautious, can be infuriating, and there’s nothing wrong with making sure the ones responsible for the accident, on every level, are legally liable for your losses.

At Pilicy Injury Law, we can build a strong case under the state’s Dram Shop Laws. We can gather evidence, speak to witnesses, negotiate a settlement, and go to court if it comes to that. Our firm can represent and support you. Contact us to speak to a member of our legal team about your next steps and options.