Our attorneys routinely represent leading national and regional companies in the hotel, food service, bar and private clubs, and entertainment industries. We regularly advise on slip-and-fall claims, vendor agreements, wage-and-hour disputes, internal company policies, and injury report trends. You can count on our experienced attorneys to protect your best interests from the start, helping you minimize risk while keeping the business running efficiently.
Our attorneys are experienced in all areas of litigation relating to this industry, including:
- Asset protection
- Class action and/or commercial litigation
- Contract drafting and negotiations
- Cyber and physical security
- Dram shop
- Employment and workers’ compensation
- Food adulteration claims
- Franchises
- Liquor liability
- Negligence or improper maintenance of the premises
- Premises liability
- Real estate
- Regulatory agency sanctions
- Safety matters
- Slip and falls
- Standards and codes
- Third-party negligence
Liquor Liability
Alabama has some of the most stringent liquor liability laws in the United States. Dram shop and liquor liability laws once only applied to bar owners and establishments licensed to sell alcohol. Now we see these laws applied to social hosts or businesses that serve alcohol at private parties such as picnics, housewarmings, fraternity parties, and office social gatherings.
Our attorneys recognize that training and proactive efforts to prevent alcohol-related injuries are integral to decreasing civil liability and protecting personal and professional livelihoods. For that reason, we often evaluate existing liquor liability programs and provide in-house vendor training to bartenders, servers, and other employees of restaurants and bars so that they can more easily recognize and discreetly deal with underage or intoxicated patrons.
Beyond educating clients about responsible serving practices, we proactively monitor current state dram shop statues, drunk driving, and insurance coverage laws. We have successfully defended clients on those occasions when clients have been named as defendants in third party claims. Our liquor liability practice offers an extra dimension to these claims because we have professionals with Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Board certification who can represent restaurant and bar license at the Board level.
