Home / Expert Witness by State / Connecticut
Connecticut · Statutory cap and a short notice window
Connecticut Dram Shop & Hospitality Expert Witness
Ryan Dahlstrom accepts hospitality and entertainment expert-witness engagements in Connecticut. 35+ years of hands-on experience in bars, restaurants, nightclubs, hotels, live entertainment venues and special events — retained by attorneys representing plaintiffs and defendants.
In short
Ryan Dahlstrom is a hospitality and entertainment industry expert witness who accepts engagements in Connecticut. He has more than 35 years of hands-on experience in bars, restaurants, nightclubs, hotels, live entertainment venues and special events, and is retained by attorneys representing plaintiffs and defendants. In Connecticut matters he evaluates hospitality and venue operations, alcohol service and overservice, bar and nightclub operations, restaurant operations and management, security operations and negligent security, premises liability, event management, event security, event and stage safety, and surveillance video analysis. His opinions address operational standards — alcohol-service practices, staffing, training, supervision, policy and procedure, security, crowd management and incident response — measured against hospitality industry standards. He does not offer opinions on the law, engineering, toxicology or medical causation.
Alcohol Service
Dram Shop and Liquor Liability in Connecticut
Statutory cap and a short notice window
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 30-102 — the Connecticut Dram Shop Act — makes a permittee who sells alcohol to an intoxicated person liable for injury to person or property caused by that person.
Two features dominate Connecticut practice. Damages are capped at $250,000 in the aggregate for all injured parties arising from a single occurrence. And notice of intention to bring a Dram Shop Act claim must be given within 120 days of the occurrence — extended to 180 days where the aggrieved person has died or is incapacitated.
The Act does not provide a remedy to the intoxicated person for their own injuries, and it does not require proof of negligence. Connecticut courts also recognize certain common-law claims against alcohol sellers that are separate from the Act. The short notice window makes early evidence preservation decisive: surveillance at most Connecticut licensed premises is overwritten well inside 120 days.
This summary is general information for counsel, not legal advice. Statutes, regulations and case law change; counsel should confirm the law in effect on the date of loss. Ryan Dahlstrom's opinions address operational practices measured against hospitality industry standards; he does not offer opinions on the law.
Hospitality Context
Connecticut Venues and Operations
Connecticut's licensed trade includes the two large tribal casino-resort operations at Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, New Haven and Hartford restaurant and bar districts, shoreline seasonal venues, and university-adjacent operations — a mix where casino-floor service standards sit alongside small-operator taverns.
Evidence
What Ryan Reviews in Connecticut Matters
- Service and POS records correlated into an operational timeline.
- Surveillance video across the service period, reviewed for observable indicators and reconciled against records and testimony.
- Training and certification records for the staff actually on shift, measured against the state's server-training scheme.
- Written policy and procedure — and whether practice matched the document.
- Staffing, supervision and deployment at the relevant time, including security posts and ratios against actual occupancy.
- Incident reports and prior-incident history bearing on foreseeability.
Scope
Areas Ryan May Be Retained On in Connecticut
Where relevant to the matter. Ryan is retained by attorneys representing plaintiffs and defendants; opinions follow the facts and the applicable standard of care, not the retaining party.
Hospitality
- Hospitality operations
- Hospitality management
- Venue operations
- Hotel operations
- Management practices
- Policies and procedures
- Employee training
- Operational standards
Alcohol service
- Dram shop
- Liquor liability
- Alcohol service
- Alcohol overservice
- Responsible beverage service
- Alcohol service to minors
Bar, nightclub & restaurant
- Bar operations
- Bar management
- Nightclub operations
- Nightclub management
- Restaurant operations
- Restaurant management
- Beverage operations
Security
- Security operations
- Bar security
- Nightclub security
- Event security
- Negligent security
- Crowd management
- Crowd control
Premises & events
- Premises liability
- Event management
- Event operations
- Event safety
- Event & stage safety
- Special event management
Analysis
- Surveillance video analysis
- Surveillance video compilation
- Incident timeline analysis
- Standard of care review
Availability
Connecticut Engagements
Ryan Dahlstrom accepts expert-witness engagements in Connecticut and throughout the United States, and has been retained in matters by plaintiff and defense counsel nationwide. The hospitality industry standards that govern alcohol service, staffing, training and security apply wherever a venue operates; what differs from state to state is the governing law and what must be proven.
His case experience includes matters in Texas, Nevada, New Mexico, Illinois, Utah, Washington, California, New York, Kentucky and other jurisdictions, involving dram shop and liquor liability, security, premises liability, hospitality operations, event safety, restaurant management and bar operations.
Questions
Connecticut — Common Questions from Counsel
How long do you have to give notice of a Connecticut dram shop claim?
Are Connecticut dram shop damages capped?
Does casino-floor service raise different operational questions?
Connecticut Matter Under Review?
Submit a case inquiry for a confidential conflicts check and evaluation. Ryan responds to case inquiries within one business day.