Have You Been Injured in a Bar, Nightclub, or Restaurant?

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:

1. 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).
2. 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).
3. 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.

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:

1. that the vendor sold alcohol to a patron that caused an injury
2. That the injuries or damages were in fact caused by the patron.
3. The business was the proximate cause of the intoxication of the patron.
4. 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.