INJURED BECAUSE SOMEONE WAS OVERSERVED?
NO FEES UNLESS YOU COLLECT
In the last four years, our firm made Top Verdict’s “Top 50” Personal Injury Settlements in Texas list 44 times, and the “Top 100” list 70 times.
YOU CAN TRUST OUR FAMILY TO FIGHT FOR YOURS™
When you’re injured by an intoxicated motorist, our skilled Dallas attorneys fight tenaciously to ensure the maximum available settlement while offering you the lowest contingency fee. We will hold the drunk driver accountable and investigate whether a bar, restaurant, or other establishment might also have liability for overserving the intoxicated motorist under a “Dram Shop” cause of action. We handle your case the way we would want our own case handled.
Mullen & Mullen is consistently recognized by TopVerdict for obtaining some of the largest recoveries in the entire state of Texas. In the last 4 years our firm made the Texas “Top 50 Personal Injury Settlements” list 44 times, and the “Top 100” list 70 times.
One of those years we had 19 of the “Top 50” results and all were for clients injured in motor vehicle accidents. Our stellar results allow us to offer a below industry standard 29% pre-suit contingency fee which means more money in your pocket.
Our experienced local team has an incredibly strong work ethic and truly cares. We’ve been privileged to serve North Texas for over 40 years. This is our backyard. Call (214) 747-5240 now for a free consultation and some excellent advice.
In the typical “Dram Shop” case, a bar/restaurant overserves a patron and the patron drives off and injures someone. A lot of attorneys overlook these cases since it’s easier to focus solely on a quick case against the drunk driver to obtain their personal automobile insurance limits. When the facts warrant it, however, Mullen & Mullen actively and thoroughly investigates cases involving drunk drivers for potential bar/restaurant liability.
I had a case recently where a fairly well-known law firm helped the client settle for $80,000.00, comprised of $30,000.00 from the drunk driver’s personal automobile insurance carrier and $50,000.00 from our client’s own underinsured motorist carrier. This other law firm never explored where the drunk driver was coming from at the time of the wreck despite the client requiring emergency extremity surgery with a permanent rod in her leg! Thankfully, someone recommended the client to explore a potential “Dram Shop” case and she retained Mullen & Mullen Law Firm.
In short, bars and restaurants can be liable for injuries or death caused by over-serving patrons, but liability can be challenging since you need to demonstrate, amongst other things, that the establishment served someone who was “obviously intoxicated.” To have a chance of meeting that threshold, the drunk motorist generally must have a blood alcohol content limit at least double the legal limit. These cases can be even more difficult if the drunk driver visited several bars and/or had other drugs in their system.
On behalf of our client, we quickly requested the arresting officer’s body cam footage, the Defendant’s toxicology report as well as all investigative notes from the arrest. We learned the drunk driver was nearly three times the legal limit! In fact, a witness at the scene of the wreck knew he was intoxicated after observing him for only mere seconds – indicating the bar should have also known he was obviously intoxicated. We filed a complaint with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission and welcomed their investigation into the incident.
Eventually, we secured the full $1,000,000.00 bar policy liability limits for our client without even having to file a lawsuit. This establishment had clearly over-served someone and set them loose on the road knowing they could severely injure someone.
It’s always rewarding when we can play a part in holding an establishment accountable so that hopefully someone else’s friend or family member doesn’t have to become their next victim. Working on these cases gives us a chance to make a real difference in our community and potentially even save lives.
Gross Settlements Before Fees & Expenses
We have achieved numerous multimillion-dollar settlements across all practice areas, but we are restricted from displaying some very large results due to settlement confidentiality. Here are a few recent results without confidentiality agreements:
$6,150,000.00
Work Accident
$4,000,000.00
Wrongful Death
$2,978,104.95
Vehicle Accident
$2,550,000.00
Vehicle Accident
$2,550,000.00
Vehicle Accident
$2,250,000.00
Premises Liability
According to TopVerdict.com, our Dallas attorneys consistently achieve some of the highest recoveries in the state of Texas. As a matter of fact, in the last four years, we’ve made their Texas “Top 50” Personal Injury Settlements list 43 times, and their “Top 100” list 70 times. For example, in 2021 one of our claims made the Top 10 list, eight made the Top 11-20 list, and ten made the Top 21-50 list. When you factor in our reduced 29% contingency fee, we are confident we will help you recover more. At Mullen & Mullen, we pride ourselves on routinely recovering full policy limits for our clients without the necessity of costly and time-consuming litigation.
According to TopVerdict.com, our Dallas attorneys consistently achieve some of the highest recoveries in the state of Texas. As a matter of fact, in the last three years we’ve made their “Texas Top 50 Personal Injury Settlements” list 43 times. For example, in 2021 one of our claims made the Top 10 list, eight made the Top 11-20 list, and ten made the Top 21-50 list. When you factor in our reduced 29% contingency fee, we are confident we will help you recover more. At Mullen & Mullen, we pride ourselves on routinely recovering full policy limits for our clients without the necessity of costly and time-consuming litigation.
We have access to state-of-the-art diagnostic technology through well-established relationships with medical doctors, surgeons, physical therapists, chiropractors, neurologists, counselors, and other healthcare providers in the entire DFW Metroplex. You receive the quality medical attention you need from local providers near where you live or work. These providers specialize in treating people hurt in accidents of all kinds and they know how to properly document injuries to meet the legal burden of proof in your personal injury case. These providers are also willing to delay billing collections until after your case is resolved so you can focus on recovering without additional stress. Physicians that don’t routinely treat accident victims as part of their practice usually turn away patients over fear of being involved in the legal process or fear of health insurance companies refusing to pay accident-related healthcare bills. Please call us at 214-747-5240 for a free consultation and some advice.
Even if you don’t have health insurance or can’t afford your deductible, Mullen & Mullen will secure you the quality healthcare and state-of-the art diagnostics you deserve with no upfront out of pocket costs.
Shane, Joseph and Regis have almost 100 years of combined experience practicing personal injury law. That doesn’t even include the combined experience of the attorneys that serve as of-counsel to Mullen & Mullen at no additional cost to our clients. Our firm continues to evolve, but we never forget our Core Values. We do the right thing, handle cases the way we would want our own case handled, and we truly listen to clients. We have over 40 years of local knowledge, and that matters!
Some lawyers forget that they represent the client, but we never have. Our legal team will make YOU the priority. You are the boss, and we will respond quickly to your requests for case updates and assistance. We guarantee that when you need to speak to your counsel, you will speak directly to your counsel, not to a paralegal or secretary, because that’s the way it should be.
Most firms hire an investigator to help develop evidence on your case and charge you back for that service. Our firm, however, has 2 full-time accident investigators on staff and we offer their services to you for free. This is another way we will maximize your compensation.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Video footage is worth a lot more. Our in-house videographer allows us to capture the true impact the accident has on your life beyond mere words on a piece of paper.
When necessary, Mullen & Mullen Law Firm uses cutting edge technology like 3D imaging videos to fully demonstrate the extent of our clients’ injuries to the insurance companies. This also helps maximize the value of your claim.
Mullen & Mullen’s attorneys live and work right here in Dallas, and always have. We believe in paying our success forward by helping people in the North Texas community, and are dedicated to supporting these local charities.
Our Managing Partner, Shane V. Mullen, has been handling personal injury cases for 21 years. He is “Top-rated” by Thompson Reuters who named him as a Texas Super Lawyer 3 consecutive years. Shane is also a lifetime member of both the Million & Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forums, solidifying his expertise in handling significant cases. He is also an esteemed member of Rue Ratings’ Best Attorneys of America, further attesting to his exceptional legal prowess. Shane brings hard-won, battle born knowledge to your case.
With 18 years of personal injury experience, Attorney Joseph R. Morrison has established himself as a highly skilled legal professional. Notably, he served as counsel of record in a case that garnered recognition from VerdictSearch.com as a top 5 Premises liability (slip and fall) verdict in Texas. The defendant in this case was a Fortune 500 company with an annual revenue exceeding 11 billion. The specific case, Jeffrey Young v. ConAgra Foods, Inc., showcased Joe’s exceptional abilities in achieving favorable outcomes.
Joe is a distinguished member of The National Trial Lawyers: Top 100 Civil Plaintiff Trial Lawyers, solidifying his standing among the nation’s most esteemed legal practitioners. Furthermore, his membership in both the Million & Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forums further attests to his expertise in handling substantial cases.
Both Shane and Joseph are lifetime members of the Million & Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forums, meaning they have each settled cases in excess of two million. This solidifies their expertise in handling significant personal injury cases.
Our Founder, Attorney Regis L. Mullen, has 56 years of personal injury experience. Regis received his Admission to practice law in 1967. Previously a Litigation Supervisor at Allstate Insurance Company, he knows all the tactics liability carriers use to deny or reduce personal injury settlements. Drawing upon his profound comprehension of the inner workings of the insurance industry, Regis established a law firm dedicated to meeting the legal needs of injured individuals in North Texas.
Known as “dram shop” cases, you can sue bars, restaurants, or other businesses that serve alcohol for over-serving drunk drivers.
If an establishment does that, they can be held financially responsible for their part in causing an injury or death. Please note a gas station might even have liability for selling packaged beer to a drunk driver.
These cases can be difficult to prove though.
That’s because it’s hard for servers/bartenders to know the blood alcohol content (BAC) of someone at their bar/establishment. For some people, it’s easy to tell they’re heavily intoxicated. For others, it’s more difficult. Some of that will depend on the legally intoxicated motorist’s tolerance.
In Texas, “dram shop” liability / bar liability can be established if a bar or restaurant serves alcohol to someone who is obviously intoxicated, and that person subsequently causes injuries or death to a third-party.
Witness testimony is very important in establishing the driver was obviously intoxicated. Bar and restaurant employees are unlikely to be helpful so other customers are usually the best source of this information. In addition, the driver’s blood alcohol content in conjunction with the timing of when he or she left the bar or restaurant is also of critical importance. Please note these cases can be very challenging if the drunk driver visited multiple establishments leading up to the wreck.
It is critically important to send a demand to preserve evidence to any bars or restaurants the drunk driver visited as quickly as possible. Our standard demand to preserve evidence includes instructions to maintain all customer receipts, POS system data, video surveillance footage, employee schedules, etc. We also routinely request police officer body worn camera footage to investigate if the motorist admitted to coming from a certain location to the investigating officer or field sobriety officer.
The problem is that many times where the intoxicated motorist was coming from is not immediately known. Further complicating matters is the fact that many intoxicated motorists charged with driving while intoxicated exercise their right to not provide information that could incriminate them in a pending criminal case.
Our firm routinely assists clients in filing complaints with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) when warranted. We usually do this when we learn a motorist was at least double the legal limit since a lower BAC makes it very challenging to suggest the drunk driver was “obviously” intoxicated. TABC often performs an independent investigation that can yield useful evidence in a civil case against the bar or restaurant. We have worked alongside TABC agents in the past to assist them in any way we can with their investigation.
If you were harmed by someone who was overserved contact our Dallas dram shop lawyers today for a free consultation.
Sounds kind of ridiculous at first that you could be drunk, hit a tree, and sue the bar that served you for your injuries, doesn’t it?
Well, Texas law looks at it like this:
With all that said, the vast majority of “Dram Shop” cases that are pursued involve an innocent third-party injured by a drunk driver. Look below, however, for one example where a bar would likely be responsible for injuries a driver caused to herself:
Let’s say an underage woman goes to a bar. She knows the bartender, and he knows she’s underage. He serves her anyway. And let’s assume he serves her 5 potent drinks – martinis. The woman slurs her words, falls off the bar stool, and gets angry and disruptive with the bartender and other patrons.
The bartender, who’s also been drinking himself (against Texas law), gives her several more shots before she leaves. As she drives away, she enters the road going the wrong way, causing a head-on collision with another vehicle and is catastrophically injured.
The bartender in this example knew the underage driver was obviously intoxicated yet served her more alcohol anyway. Most likely, her family can recover compensation for her injuries.
Filing a lawsuit against the bar, in this case, is both legal and fair. If you are in a similar situation, contact our Dallas dram shop lawyers today for a free consultation.
Contact our dram shop liquor liability attorneys in Dallas, Plano, Frisco, or Fort Worth now. We want to discuss the specifics of your claim. Find out how our Dallas personal injury law firm, with over 40 years of experience, can help!
The Mullen & Mullen family is here to address your concerns and make the path to recovery smooth. There are no fees to get started and you pay $0 if we don’t settle your case.
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LICENSED BY THE STATES OF TEXAS & MISSOURI FOR THE GENERAL PRACTICE OF LAW. The information on this website is not intended to be legal advice. That can only come from a qualified personal injury lawyer who is familiar with all the circumstances and facts of your specific case and the law relevant to it.
