DRAM SHOP AWARD:

Family of Brain-Injured Child Settles Lawsuit against a Texas Applebee’s

Posted by Mark Bello
June 04, 2012 9:22 AM

In 2009, a two-year-old child suffered extensive brain damage after the car he was riding in was struck by a repeatedly convicted drunk driver. The toddler was strapped in his car seat when a pick-up truck slammed into the back of his family’s vehicle while waiting at a red light. The intoxicated driver had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit. The child requires round-the-clock care; doctors said 80% of his brain has been destroyed he will never be able to stand, sit, walk, or speak. The child’s parents filed a lawsuit against the drunk driver and a local Applebee’s seeking $10 million to cover the child’s physical needs, past and future medical expenses, emotional and mental anguish, as well as their loss of earnings to care for their son. Three years later, the couple reached an undisclosed settlement.

Obviously, the impaired driver should be held responsible, but what about Applebee’s? Most states, including Texas, have Dram Shop Laws that hold commercial establishments accountable for injuries that result when they serve a customer that is obviously intoxicated to the point that the drunk person presents a clear danger to themselves and others. In order for a cause of action under the Texas Dram Shop Act to be successful, a plaintiff must show proof that, at the time the alcohol was served, the individual who later caused harm was obviously intoxicated to the point that he or she presented a clear danger.

Under the Dram Shop Act, a vast majority of states allow victims of drunk driving accidents (or their families) to hold restaurants and bars accountable for serious injuries or death caused by an intoxicated patron if the establishment knew, or should have known, the customer was intoxicated — a fuzzy test in application. These laws exist to ensure the public safety by making sure that alcohol-serving establishments are liable in their involvement with customers and their sale of alcohol. When these businesses are driven by profits and neglect to oversee their patron’s alcohol consumption, they can be held partially responsible for the negligence of the patron’s drunk driving accident. In Texas, a patron must be so obviously intoxicated that he presents a clear danger to himself and others. This case is an excellent example of this application of the law; the plaintiff showed proof via receipts that Applebee’s served this guy over 20 drinks in less than two hours (and let him walk out, probably to get into his car and drive away). The patron should have been visibly intoxicated; there should have been no “fuzziness” about his condition when he left Applebee’s.

The couple is still fighting to hold the drunk driver responsible for his actions; he still has not gone on trial. Although he has numerous prior convictions and charges of driving under the influence, his past convictions are not admissible due to a technicality: the convictions are from four other states and the records have been kept out of Texas courts. The couple’s pleas have not gone completely unheard; the state passed the Abdallah Khader Act (named after this innocent little boy) which doubles the amount of time that an alleged drunk driver can spend in prison for intoxication assault cases to 20 years and the amount of time someone with the blood alcohol content (BAC) of .15 or higher can spend in jail to one year.

Michael Zenner - CEO      
Eye Spy Spotter Services Inc.
eyespyspotter.com
bartheft.com  (blog)
Hospitality Checkpoint
hospitalitycheckpoint.com
liquorassessment.com
PO BOX 995 Gilbert AZ 85299
Office: 480-777-7056
Toll Free: 800-880-0811
© Eye Spy Spotter Services Inc. 2012

DRAM SHOP AWARD:

Simon Law Firm Settles Dramshop Suit for Half a Million

Atlanta, GA (PRWEB) June 05, 2012
The death of University of Georgia college student Eddie Ko has been rectified by the Simon Law Firm, headed by Christopher Simon, a local car accident attorney. Atlanta citizens can also get peace of mind knowing that an irresponsible and dangerous local business has been shut down.
In 2010, Ko was killed in a drunk driving accident. Two drivers left a bar in Duluth, GA in separate vehicles. Unable to properly operate their vehicles after drinking to excess, they lost control and struck each other, and then crashed into 23 year-old Eddie Ko’s vehicle. The accident took the lives of Ko and another passenger, which was reported by CBS Atlanta. The drivers, Soon Kwon and Gho H. Lee, faced criminal charges, including vehicular manslaughter. As a wrongful death attorney, Atlanta representative Mr. Simon was able to secure policy limits from the insurance companies in the case of JEAN CHOI, as Surviving Mother of EDDIE H. KO (Deceased) versus SOON M. KWON, IN J. KWON, GHO H. LEE, TONY KA, and AKO CORPORATION, in the state court of Gwinnett County, State of Georgia Civil Action File No. 11C-04348-1.

In support of the family of Ko and the community at large, Christopher Simon took action in the same claim (Civil Action File No. 11C-04348-1) against the bar (parent company AKO Corporation) that served the alcohol. In Georgia, Dramshop Act - Civil Code § 51-1-40(b) - holds the bar legally responsible for injuries and deaths when they serve a visibly drunk customer and they are aware that he or she is driving that evening. During the litigation, the firm deposed witnesses who were drinking with the drunk drivers that night and obtained cell phone photos showing how intoxicated they were. The bar was found guilty of serving six heavily intoxicated individuals up to 15 rounds of drinks and staying open past closing to continue serving. A half a million dollars was awarded to Ko’s family in the wrongful death suit.

"Knowing that the bar will be uninsurable and likely go out of business as a result is a measure of justice for the loss of Eddie's life,” says Mr. Simon. “It also helps to protect other innocent drivers in Atlanta. It won't bring him back, but we can keep it from happening again."
The public is often not aware of how much good trial lawyers do by shutting down dangerous businesses. Mr. Simon of the Simon Law Firm has been recognized as a leader in his field in Atlanta. He was selected by Super Lawyers Magazine as a Rising Star for 2009, 2010 and 2011 and as a Super Lawyer in 2012. He was also listed on the "Legal Elite" list by Georgia Trend magazine in 2010.

Michael Zenner - CEO      
Eye Spy Spotter Services Inc.
eyespyspotter.com
bartheft.com  (blog)
Hospitality Checkpoint
hospitalitycheckpoint.com
liquorassessment.com
PO BOX 995 Gilbert AZ 85299
Office: 480-777-7056
Toll Free: 800-880-0811
© Eye Spy Spotter Services Inc. 2012