Time Is Money
When a patron of your establishment has left the bar and caused a ruckus somewhere, if you catch wind of it, you are going to want to have your attorney entirely appraised of the situation as swiftly as possible. This is the best time to get blood tests, go over bank records, obtain witness testimony, and check every possible angle to see where liability really lies. People are excellent actors, in general. Certainly some could not lie to save their lives; but usually that is because they “know” they are lying. But rationalization, or lying to oneself, doesn’t produce the same psychological barrier. This is why almost everybody, when they’ve exceeded their drinking limit, is liable to hem, haw, and deny as long as possible. Firstly, they don’t want to quit drinking. Secondly, they’ve rationalized their own actions enough that they actually believe they’re own lies. Drunks are experts at hiding their intoxication under a veil of silence and considered speech. Sometimes a drinker will have endured a session of drinking before ever coming to your establishment, and by the time they claim a stool, the alcohol they drank previously is just starting to hit them. They know it’s coming, so they order a double something-or-other and sit back, letting the spirits mix inside. Then the bass drops on the dance-floor, and they stumble out to the flashing lights to annoy some less-inebriated patrons.
Understandably, this eventually results in their ejection from your establishment, whereupon they decide driving is a great idea, and destroy a public works building downtown on the way home. Now, you’re not as liable for them as you could be, given that customer’s alcoholism, previous drinking, and ability to appear sober when in fact being inebriated. But good luck proving the truth of the matter without a lawyer.
Business In Modernity Is Choking
It’s not just new laws that can make a burgeoning business’s efforts moot. There are old laws to watch out for as well. True, taxes and bureaucracy in America have made beginning a new business much more difficult than it was. But new laws exist in addition to elder dram laws, which can make a business liable for the actions of customers after they’ve left the establishment. Beyond reparations, which can be expensive, penalties can include a license restriction, making it illegal for your establishment to sell alcohol to patrons. Oftentimes these laws are unjustly applied, because no proper legal representation is available to those who’ve been unjustly accused. That’s why, when you look for a license violation issues lawyer in Houston it even makes sense to keep that lawyer on retainer.
A Successful Business Has Catches
Certain products and services will always be necessary components of society. We’re always going to need food, teachers, and drinking establishments. If there isn’t a vetted drinking establishment in town, some well-to-do socialite will make one himself in the boonies. Owning a tavern that’s correctly run is a sound business choice rife with opportunity and continual patronage. But if you’re a small business starting out and have yet to gain proper footing in your enterprise, a single “whoopsie” from an inebriated client can bring your dreams crashing to ground.
But it’s simple enough to protect against such an eventuality by finding legal representation you can trust. Things to look for are legal history, and tenacity in representation. All lawyers say they’re tenacious, but if their history doesn’t prove it, then their words are empty. Find a solid history of cases resolved in the client’s favor, and trusting a lawyer’s claims is more sensible.
