Can You Sue Someone for a Bar Fight?

Yes, but in most cases, that “someone” is not the assailant, but the owner of the bar. Bar owners and other property owners have a duty of care, which includes a duty to provide adequate security. When people drink and discuss inflammatory topics, such as politics, fights are inevitable, either inside the bar or outside in the parking lot.

A push or a shove could cause a fall and a head injury or other catastrophic (life-threatening) injury. The medical bills and other economic costs of a catastrophic injury, such as lost wages, usually exceed $100,000.

Bar fights and other such cases are extremely complex, partially because the bar’s or restaurant’s owner is usually an out-of-state holding company. Additionally, in negligent security cases, there’s no concrete standard of care, so establishing negligence is difficult. Therefore, only the Assault and Battery Lawyer should handle these cases. Only a top lawyer can overcome these and other obstacles and obtain maximum compensation for your serious injury.

Finding the Right Lawyer

Lawyers practically grow on trees in SoCal. The Golden State has one of the highest number of lawyers per capita in the country. But only a handful of attorneys have the skill set necessary to resolve a negligent security claim. Some qualities to look for include:

• Experience: Law schools teach students how to break down issues and analyze them like lawyers. But only the school of hard knocks teaches lawyers civil procedure, bedside manner, and other equally important skills. Years of experience can also be deceptive. Many attorneys practice law for many years and hardly ever see the inside of a courtroom.
• Accessibility: This quality is often deceptive as well. Accessibility is a wonderful trait in a customer service department. But accessibility could be a bad quality for a lawyer. If an attorney has few clients and always answers the phone on the first ring, that usually means the lawyer isn’t very busy and has no essential support staff.
• Dedication: This quality is easier to measure. If your tooth hurts, you should see a dentist, not a proctologist. Likewise, if you or a loved one was injured in an accident, a personal injury lawyer should handle that case. Generally, undedicated personal injury lawyers look for quick settlements, so they can dispose of these cases and move onto something else.
  As you look for a Beverly Hills Personal Injury Attorney, be mindful that the clock is ticking. Victims have a limited amount of time to act.

Advanced Injury Issues

Assault injuries, especially assault injuries sustained during a bar fight, often involve complex issues, such as California’s complex collateral source rule and the possibility of an eggshell skull or another unusual injury vulnerability.

Group health insurance companies often pay most of the medical bills in these cases, at least initially. Traditionally, these insurance payments were inadmissible on the issue of damages. If John’s assault medical bills were $100,000 and his insurance company paid $80,000, he was entitled to $100k.

A 2011 California Supreme Court case changed the rules. Now, these collateral source payments could reduce the victim’s compensation. If those medical bills included a $10,000 MRI, and the provider discounted the fee to $2,000, that $2k payment is admissible to reduce John’s damages.

The eggshell skull rule is almost equally complex. If a pre-existing condition, like a prior head injury, contributed to the risk and/or severity of the assault-related injury, a Los Angeles personal injury lawyer must prove the assault aggravated the pre-existing condition, and not vice versa.

This rule often comes down to a comparison between the victim’s doctor and the insurance company’s doctor, who almost inevitably have different opinions. Therefore, a lawyer must partner with a doctor who’s a persuasive witness as well as a good physician. Such doctors are few and far between.

The Lawsuit Process

A few final words about the negligent security lawsuit process in California. Usually, negligent security at a bar is a failure to deploy proper active security measures, usually a bouncer who breaks up arguments before they become violent and/or servers who know when to cut off alcohol sales.

If liability, damages, and other key issues are clear, the insurance company usually has a duty to settle the case almost immediately. Liability issues in bar fight cases may be straightforward, but damages is another matter, as outlined above.

So, to jumpstart the settlement process, lawyers generally file legal paperwork. This tactic delays the process, but it’s a necessary delay. Filing a lawsuit usually triggers a mediation requirement. Over 90 percent of California personal injury cases settle during mediation.

Out-of-court settlements are good for victims for many reasons. For example, a settlement is a final resolution. Bars can tie up court verdicts in appeals courts seemingly forever. But when they settle cases, they immediately write checks.

Get a free consultation for your bar fight injury!

You can sue for bar fight injuries, but the matters are complex. For a free consultation with a Personal Injury Lawyer Beverly Hills, Contact the Law Offices of Eslamboly Hakim. The sooner you reach out to us, the sooner we start working for you.

Credit: Photo by Midjourney