Chicago DUI Lawyer's guest post by Michael Goldberg on the liability of a Gentleman's Club for a DUI

A few months ago I posted on Diamonds Gentlemens Club. You may recall that Diamonds Gentlemens Club features terpsichorean ecdysiasts.  Today, I am fortunate to have Attorney Michael Goldberg, of the Whiting Law Group, LTD guest post on the issue of the liability of Diamonds Gentlemens Club even though the club was not criminally charged with DUI.  

It’s undeniably clear that Diamonds Gentlemens Club is acquiescing to the consumption of alcohol in its establishment by what it serves, i.e. mixers, tonic, etc.  Since Diamonds is indirectly serving alcohol to its patrons, it should be held responsible for the injuries caused under the Dram Shop Act.  Dram Shop laws place liability on establishments who serve alcohol to visibly intoxicated persons who subsequently cause injury to innocent victims, usually as a result of alcohol-related car crashes.  The laws are intended to protect the general public from the hazards of irresponsibly serving alcohol to intoxicated patrons.  Diamonds argument that Dram Shop laws do not apply to them because they don’t “serve” alcohol is misplaced and completely hypocritical.  Diamonds wants to reap the benefits of its patrons getting intoxicated to the point where they lose judgment and spend obscene amounts of money on “entertainment,” but at the same time, they want to avoid the responsibility of injuries caused from the intoxication that Diamonds promotes.  If an establishment like Diamonds Gentlemens Club knows that alcohol will be consumed in its establishment and further promotes the consumption by serving alcoholic mixers, it cannot use the fact that it did not technically serve alcohol as a shield from the Dram Shop Act.

 For those of you who would like to discuss this further feel free to comment on my blog or you can contact Michael directly at mgoldberg@wlglaw.net.