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Why Hosts Need to be Careful When Serving Alcohol

One of the true joys in life is being able to gather friends and family for a celebration. However, if you’re planning to serve alcohol at your next party, then you need to be aware of the possible legal ramifications. Many people planning to host a get together aren’t aware of the fact that they can be held liable if one of their guests becomes intoxicated and causes a drunk driving wreck, bringing a quick end to the happiness of the holidays.

If you’ve been involved in an accident caused by a drunk driver who was coming from a gathering or party, Read some important information about social host liability laws and advice for hiring a Tulsa car accident lawyer for help in your suit.

Your Hosting Responsibilities

The important thing to understand about your potential liability as the host of a party is that the law applies to anyone who serves a guest too much alcohol. This can include guests in your home or employees at a company business party. The only thing that matters is that one of your guests was served too much alcohol and then caused a drunk driving accident.

Oklahoma does have these laws, but to some extent, it’s important to remember that adults are generally legally responsible for monitoring how much alcohol they consume and if they choose to drive while intoxicated, which is why in some cases it can be difficult to prove liability except in cases involving minors.

How These Cases Work

When it comes to this kind of personal injury case, there are two possible types of suits that can generally occur. In a first party social liability case, the person bringing suit will be the guest at your party, which usually occurs after they have been involved in a wreck that only injures the drunk driver themselves.

The other type of case is a third-party case, which is brought by another party who has been injured by the drunk driving guest. Whichever type of social liability case that you are involved in, it’s important that you look at the various ways you could be held at fault.

How Fault Comes into Play

For cases of host liability, the host can either be found liable through either recklessness or intent. If your actions are deemed to be reckless, it usually means that you ignored the indicators that your guest had consumed too much alcohol and continued to give them drinks.

Intent usually comes into play for cases involving minors. For instance, if you were aware one of your guests was a minor and served them alcohol anyway, this qualifies as intent. Another example would be if you served alcohol to someone who should not be drinking, such as an alcoholic.

In such a case, the injured party will need to show that the host or someone at the party served alcoholic beverages in a responsible manner and it was the sole actions of the drunk driver that caused the wreck.

Work with a Tulsa Car Accident Lawyer

While when hosting a party, people want to make sure that all of their guests have a good time when they’re in the home or business, it’s also important to understand the liability that goes with it. To get advice for how to get compensation if you are injured in a case like this, you need to consult with a Tulsa car accident attorney from the Parrish DeVaughn Law Firm. We can give you tips on protecting your interest and get you the justice you deserve.

Get in touch with a Parish DeVaughn representative today to schedule a consultation about your social host liability case.