I Want My Own Bird

Dave Butler wrote:

Jay Honeck wrote:

There's a huge case going on right now, here in Iowa City, where the
father of a girl who was injured in a car accident is suing the
Highlander Inn (another local hotel) for MILLIONS of dollars, because
they (*gasp!*) served the driver alcohol at a wedding reception!


Totally off-topic, sorry: is it legal to (*gasp!*) serve alcohol to
19-year-olds at wedding receptions in Iowa?


Good catch Dave.

Actually the driver was only 18 when he was served acohol by the
Highlander Inn (he's 19 now). Interesting that Jay left that bit of
information out of his rant.

http://www.dailyiowan.com/news/2004/...e-715207.shtml

or

http://tinyurl.com/6624g

Further googling reveals that Iowa has a dram shop law, which
specifically makes establishments liable for actions of patrons they
serve alcohol to. This law also requires them to carry insurance
against this liability, so the owners of this place that helped an 18
year old illegally get stinking drunk can't say they didn't know about
their potential liability. This looks like exactly the kind of case
that dram shop laws were designed for.

It sounds to me like Jay's anger needs to be directed at Mothers Against
Drunk Driving (who was really pushing these laws many years ago) not the
lawyer who files a case under this law -- this is exactly what it was
for. Or does he think the law should have been passed but never invoked?

Plus, I suggest Jay wait and see how much, if anything, is actually paid
out in this lawsuit. Its easy to get headlines filing lawsuits with
large numbers. Jury awards with large numbers get big headlines and get
remembered too. But when the final payment is much less, either reduced
on appeal or settled, the headlines are smaller or nonexistent, so the
big number sticks in peoples' memories, even if it's not an amount
anybody actually paid.