Were you injured by someone who was overserved alcohol at a bar or other licensed establishment in Chicago, Illinois? The business that kept serving them may share legal responsibility for your injuries under Illinois’s dram shop law. The Chicago premises liability lawyers at Mark L. Karno & Associates, LLC can help you determine whether you have a viable claim and take appropriate legal action on your behalf from there.
With 100 years of combined experience and tens of millions of dollars won for our clients, our top-rated legal team is confident in going up against anyone in this area of the law and winning big. We’ll treat you like family if you hire us and ensure your case receives the full force of our attention and resources.
Call us at (312) 701-0090 for a free consultation. We can go over the specifics of your situation and offer some initial legal guidance at that time.
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How Mark L. Karno & Associates Can Help With Your Dram Shop Claim in Chicago, Illinois
Dram shop cases require a specific type of evidence that goes beyond what a standard personal injury claim involves. You need to show not just that the person who injured you was intoxicated, but that the establishment continued serving them when it shouldn’t have. Building that kind of case takes experience and a thorough investigation.
Mark L. Karno & Associates knows how to handle these claims effectively. When you hire our personal injury law firm, we can:
- Investigate the establishment’s serving practices on the night of the incident
- Obtain surveillance footage, bar tabs, receipts, and server records
- Interview witnesses who were present at the time
- Document the full scope of your injuries and financial losses
- File a lawsuit against the establishment if they refuse to accept responsibility
Want to learn more about how we can help? Contact our law offices today in Chicago, IL, to set up a free initial consultation.
What Is Dram Shop Liability in Illinois?
Illinois’s Liquor Control Act, found in 235 ILCS § 5/6-21, allows injured parties to file a civil lawsuit against any licensed establishment that serves alcohol to a person who is already visibly intoxicated, if that person then goes on to cause harm. The law also applies when a licensed establishment serves alcohol to a minor.
Unlike social host liability, which is limited in Illinois, dram shop claims cast a wider net. The types of businesses that can be held liable include:
- Bars and taverns
- Restaurants
- Nightclubs
- Hotels
- Sports venues
- Any other business operating with a liquor license
The most common scenario involves a drunk driving car accident, but dram shop claims can also arise from assaults, falls, and other incidents caused by an intoxicated individual.
It’s also worth noting that the person who was overserved doesn’t have to be convicted of a crime for your dram shop claim to move forward. These are civil cases with a lower burden of proof than criminal proceedings. You need to show that the establishment’s decision to keep serving was a contributing factor in your injuries, not that the intoxicated person was found guilty of anything.
$6.32m
Premises Liability
$6.32m
Premises Liability
Facts: Our client was a 24-year-old patron at a tavern owned by Ginx, Inc. Another patron, known only as “Mike,” became intoxicated, argumentative and violent at the tavern as the evening progressed. “Mike” then got into a fight with another patron of the bar and was asked to leave. “Mike” later returned to the bar within minutes and was patted down by the tavern’s bouncer. The bouncer felt what he felt was a gun in “Mike’s” pants and then asked him to leave the tavern, again. Within seconds of Mike leaving the tavern, shots were fired into the tavern through a boarded-up side door. Our client, who was not involved in any altercation that evening, was shot in the back while playing pool near the area of the boarded-up side door.
Client’s Injuries: Permanent paraplegia with paralysis from the nipple-line down, spastic bladder and bowel, broken ribs and a collapsed lung
$825k
Premises Liability
$825k
Premises Liability
Facts: Our client was shot with a handgun inside her own apartment by her brother who had entered the building through the front door of the apartment complex that was equipped with a lock that was not functioning properly. We successfully argued that the landlord had liability for the shooting due to the fact that the local ordinance required entryway doors to be equipped with a working locking mechanism that required a key to enter the premises.
Client’s Injuries: Gunshot wound that entered the oral cavity and shattered the mandible and went through the neck and then lodged into her right scapula causing a fracture. Also sustained injuries to her right jugular vein and right carotid artery.
$750k
Premises Liability
$750k
Premises Liability
Facts: Our client, a citizen of the Czech Republic, was painting the exterior stairway at 625½ West Arlington, Chicago, Illinois, when he encountered a garbage can on the winder portion of the staircase at which time he lost his balance and fell over the railing of the stairway, falling two stories to the ground. It was alleged that there were various defects in the staircase.
Client’s Injuries: Rib fractures, a burst dislocation of T10/T11 and T11/T12 with paraplegia, which required a fusion of T8 to L1 with a rib graft
$722.5k
Premises Liability
$722.5k
Premises Liability
Facts: A power strip manufactured by Gemini Industries, Inc., for Philips-Magnavox failed, causing a fire at a condominium in Homewood, Illinois. The product failure consisted of either an MOV and/or thermal fuse failure and/or inappropriate installation of the MOV and/or thermal fuse when the power strip was manufactured. The fire burned through the walls of the condominium unit and entered the adjoining condominium.
Client’s Injuries: Wrongful death of 67-year-old caused by burns and carbon monoxide poisoning. Deceased was a retired train engineer.
$600k
Premises Liability
$600k
Premises Liability
Facts: Our client slipped and fell on the remnants of the base of a concrete pillar on the defendant’s property that previously held up a canopy over the sidewalk.
Client’s Injuries: Right ankle sprain and ligament tear, complex regional pain syndrome of the right lower extremity, type 1, requiring initial treatment of right lumbar sympathetic nerve blocks, a spinal cord implant surgery which lead to a staph infection.
$425k
Premises Liability
$425k
Premises Liability
Facts: Our client was a customer at a gasoline service station when he was shot in the back by an unknown assailant and robbed, while the vehicle he was a passenger in was car-jacked by a group of criminals.
Client’s Injuries: Complete spinal cord injury to T8 resulting in paraplegia; a right 8th rib fracture and numerous complications including phlebitis, fecal impaction, sacral decubitus ulcer, multiple decubitus wounds, back area wounds, bilateral heel wounds, right ischial pressure and post-sacral pressure sore requiring operations for excisional preparation for muscle flap closure of right ischium and excisional preparation for fasciocutaneous closure of the sacrum.
$300k
Premises Liability
$300k
Premises Liability
Facts: Our client was touring the inside of a country club looking at various pieces of equipment to potentially purchase. As she was descending a flight of carpeted stairs on the premises, she tripped over a piece of carpet that was torn and fell down four stairs. The defense argued the defective condition of the stairs was an open and obvious condition and therefore, they were not liable for our client’s injuries. We successfully argued against the defense’s position and attained a settlement for our client in the amount of $300,000.00.
Client’s Injuries: Nondisplaced sacral fracture and subsequent sacroiliac joint pain.
$300k
Premises Liability
$300k
Premises Liability
Facts: Our client was a passenger in an automobile being driven northbound on Route 31 north of Gracy Road, in McHenry County, Illinois, when it was struck by a truck being driven southbound on Route 31 that had crossed the center line.
Client’s Injuries: Multiple fractures
$205k
Premises Liability
$205k
Premises Liability
Facts: Our client tripped over a garden hose that was left out behind a gated entrance to her house. She suffered a distal radius left fracture, which required two surgeries. The defendant argued that hose was an open and obvious condition. The case settled for $205,000.00.
$200k
Premises Liability
$200k
Premises Liability
Facts: Our client was a patron at the defendant’s restaurant when she slipped and fell on a wet floor near the salad bar. The floor had recently been mopped by a restaurant employee.
Client’s Injuries: Mild concussion causing headaches, a C3-C4 disc herniation, C4-C5 disc bulge, cervical sprain, disc protrusions at the levels of C4 and C7 with associated cervical radiculopathy, requiring epidural injections; a non-displaced occult type fracture of the distal tibia with a bone contusion of the distal tibia and the talus requiring her to utilize a Cam walker and a cane.
$200k
Premises Liability
$200k
Premises Liability
Facts: Our client was exiting her apartment complex and walking on the sidewalk toward the parking lot of her building. However, just before reaching the parking lot, our client was caused to slip and fall on an unnatural accumulation of ice on the sidewalk due to improper placement/maintenance of a drainage gutter.
Client’s Injuries: Displaced left distal radius fracture requiring open reduction internal fixation surgery.
$170k
Premises Liability
$170k
Premises Liability
Facts: Our client was lawfully on the defendant’s premises walking down the interior stairs to the basement of the apartment building when she fell down the stairs after slipping on a foreign substance. We successfully argued that the property owner was negligent in the maintenance of their property by allowing a foreign substance to remain on the surface of the stairwell, thereby causing a slippery and hazardous condition; by failing to maintain a firmly fastened handrail in good condition; failure to warn persons walking down the stairway of the dangerous condition existing on the premises; and failed to properly and sufficiently illuminate the stairway, causing our client to suffer severe and permanent injuries.
Client’s Injuries: Sprain to the medial collateral ligament in the knee, partial tear of the rotator cuff and the AC joint in the left shoulder.
$165k
Premises Liability
$165k
Premises Liability
Facts: Our client slipped and fell on a liquid substance left sitting on the highly polished floors at the defendant’s restaurant.
Client’s Injuries: Left patella contusion with posttraumatic chondromalacia patella, mild lateral femoral condyle and lateral tibial plateau contusion.
$151.9k
Premises Liability
$151.9k
Premises Liability
Facts: The plaintiff, age 3, was a patron of South Sea Seafood Restaurant, which was located at 2168 S. Archer Avenue, Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, when the defendant, an exchange student from Seoul, South Korea, spun a lazy Susan tray containing a pitcher of hot tea that subsequently fell off the lazy Susan tray causing boiling hot water to spill onto the child.
Client’s Injuries: Scald burn to left extremity and right body, right elbow, right thigh, and right calf
$150k
Premises Liability
$150k
Premises Liability
Facts: Our client was walking on public property when she slipped and fell due to the defendant property owner’s negligence in the maintenance of their property by piling up shoveled snow adjacent to the exit sidewalk. We successfully argued that the property owner should not have piled the snow up so near the exit to the premises, which in turn allowed it to thaw and refreeze creating an icing condition on the sidewalk, which caused the slip and fall which resulted in our client’s injuries.
Client’s Injuries: Lumbosacral strain, C5-C6 disc bulge, foraminal stenosis, nerve root irritation.
$135k
Premises Liability
$135k
Premises Liability
Facts: Our client was on his way to work when he came onto the sidewalk in front of the office building where he worked where he slipped and fell on ice formed by runoff from the building.
Client’s Injuries: Fracture of the left femoral neck (hip fracture).
$125k
Premises Liability
$125k
Premises Liability
Facts: Our client tripped and fell due to the defendant’s negligence in the maintenance of its property. The defendant failed to adequately secure the carpeting on the stairway leading down from the second floor; allowing the stairway to exist with a lack of uniform sized treads and risers; not having sufficient handrails and having inadequate lighting, resulting in our client’s injuries.
Client’s Injuries: Bimalleolar fracture of the right ankle which led to an open reduction internal fixation operation.
$110k
Premises Liability
$110k
Premises Liability
Facts: Our client was a patron at the defendant’s restaurant when a server spilled a pot of boiling water onto our client.
Client’s Injuries: Severe burns to right shoulder, right arm, chest, and face; diagnosed with full thickness skin loss due to 3rd degree burns to the forehead, cheek, upper arm, and shoulder.
$100k
Premises Liability
$100k
Premises Liability
Facts: Our client was in an elevator at 5838 N. Sheridan Rd. when the elevator dropped and fell multiple floors until it fell into the elevator pit.
$90k
Premises Liability
$90k
Premises Liability
Facts: The defendant was visiting our client’s home and while our client was escorting the defendant to her car as she was leaving the premises, the defendant ran into and pushed our client to the ground because the defendant overreacted to seeing a stray animal in the street.
Client’s Injuries: Suffered a comminuted fracture in the distal end or metaphysic of the radius with fractured lines extending to the distal articular cortical margin; open reduction internal fixation surgery to repair her fractured wrist.
Schedule a Free Consultation With a Chicago Dram Shop Liability Attorney
If a business’s decision to overserve a customer led you to suffer harm in Chicago, Illinois, state law may give you a path to compensation. The Chicago personal injury lawyers at Mark L. Karno & Associates has been holding negligent businesses liable in Chicago for decades and has a track record of successful results that you can depend on.
Call us at (312) 701-0090 or reach out online to schedule your free consultation today. Since we work on a contingency fee basis, we only get paid for our work if we successfully handle your case.