Florida Dram Shop Lawyer

Florida’s dram shop law, or Statute 768.125, says that alcohol vendors – including bars, clubs, restaurants, liquor stores, and wedding venues – can be held liable if they knowingly serve alcohol to a minor or person with known alcohol addiction and that person goes on to harm another individual. They cannot, however, be held liable for serving someone who was generally intoxicated, even if that person was clearly drunk.

Behind Statute 768.125 is a notion that liquor vendors have a legal duty not to serve certain high-risk individuals. But the law is quite narrow and restricts liability for establishments that over-serve a drunk person, something that is covered in the dram laws of most other states. Altogether, it leaves a lot of wiggle room for powerful businesses that want to avoid blame and costly settlements, and often provides a major and unfair hurdle to victims and their families.

At Gordon & Partners, we’re committed to making sure negligent establishments don’t dodge responsibility for drunk driving accidents they helped cause. Work with a Florida liquor liability lawyer who understands the complex nature of the state’s dram shop laws, and get a legal advocate who will fight for every penny of compensation you deserve.

We work tirelessly for our clients to hold ALL parties accountable for the damages caused by a drunk driver or other harmful drunk individual. This includes the following types of vendors, all of whom can play a significant role in enabling an alcohol-related incident:

• Bars and nightclubs
• Restaurants with liquor licenses
• Hotels and resorts
• Stadiums
• Social hosts (limited liability)
• Corporate events/venues

It’s not just the victims of alcohol-related incidents who can file claims against these types of establishments. Under Florida law, the drunk individual themselves or their loved ones can also file a dram shop claim if the individual is injured or killed in a crash or other incident caused by their intoxication.

A key part of any dram shop case is that the victim must have experienced injury as a direct result of the alcohol vendor’s negligent actions. These injuries are known as damages, and can be either economic or non-economic in nature.

There are several different types of damages that may be available to victims of dram shop negligence:

• Medical Expenses: Current and future medical bills, including rehabilitation and long-term care costs.
• Lost Wages and Earning Capacity: Compensation for income lost and/or reduced future earning capabilities due to the incident.
• Emotional and Psychological Harm: Long-term mental suffering due to the incident, including trauma disorders, depression, and general pain and suffering.
• Property damage: Financial recovery for property damage or loss due to crashes, fights, vandalism, or other situations caused by a drunk individual.
• Wrongful death damages: In cases where a drunk person’s negligence caused another individual’s death, wrongful death claims may be filed against both the intoxicated person and the establishment that served them.

Our focus on maximum compensation means we’ll fight for every type of damage you may be entitled to. To date, we have won more than $1 Billion in compensation for Florida victims of drunk driving accidents and other negligent harm.