Colin P. Hackett, Managing Partner of Lewis Brisbois' Newark office, recently secured a defense verdict on behalf of a New Jersey tavern accused of over-serving alcohol to a man who later got behind the wheel and struck another vehicle.

The plaintiffs, a husband and wife, were hit from behind by a male driver who was arrested at the scene for driving while intoxicated. A breath alcohol test administered while he was in police custody resulted in a 0.159 percent blood alcohol content reading, well over the 0.08 percent reading required to be deemed driving while intoxicated under New Jersey law.

After the accident, the plaintiff husband underwent arthroscopic knee surgery that resulted in a staph infection and eventual knee replacement, while the plaintiff wife underwent a cervical fusion and rotator cuff surgery.

The couple later sued the driver and the tavern where he was drinking, alleging that it served the driver while he was visibly intoxicated. The couple claimed they were no longer able to work as a result of their surgeries and sought money for future medical costs.

At trial, the couple presented seven expert witnesses, including a toxicologist who opined that the driver was visibly intoxicated while at the tavern and had a blood alcohol content of 0.18 percent when being served.

Defense counsel argued that there was no evidence that the driver was served at the tavern while exhibiting signs of visible intoxication and that the liability expert's opinion concerning the driver's blood alcohol content at the tavern wasn't supported by any credible evidence. The plaintiffs' injuries also weren't causally related to the accident, but were instead due to long-standing chronic conditions, defense counsel argued. 

After twelve days of trial including two days of jury deliberations, a verdict was returned finding the tavern did not serve the driver while he was visibly intoxicated and the husband's injuries were unrelated to the accident. The defendant driver was found at fault for the accident and a damage award to the wife of $390,000.00.  Plaintiffs' $1,000,000.00 demand to the tavern was lowered to $800,000.00 immediately prior to trial.

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