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Louisiana · Anti-dram shop statute
Louisiana Hospitality, Bar Operations & Security Expert Witness
Ryan Dahlstrom accepts hospitality and entertainment expert-witness engagements in Louisiana. 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 Louisiana. 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 Louisiana 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 Louisiana
Anti-dram shop statute
Louisiana enacted an express anti-dram shop statute, La. R.S. § 9:2800.1, in 1986. The legislature declared that the consumption of intoxicating beverages, rather than their sale, service or furnishing, is the proximate cause of injury inflicted by an intoxicated person.
The immunity is broad. Subsection B protects a licensed seller and its employees for service to a person of lawful drinking age where the injury occurs off the premises; Subsection C extends comparable protection to social hosts serving adults. The statute also directs that the intoxicated person's insurer, not the establishment, bears primary responsibility toward injured third parties. Immunity is removed where someone forces another to drink or misrepresents that a drink contains no alcohol.
Because overservice is closed for adult service, Louisiana hospitality litigation runs on premises liability and negligent security — and Louisiana has a great deal of it, given the density and hours of its licensed trade.
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
Louisiana Venues and Operations
Louisiana operates one of the most permissive licensed environments in the country — Bourbon Street and the French Quarter with open containers and near-continuous hours, Frenchmen Street's music venues, festival operations at Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest, Baton Rouge's college trade, and Gulf Coast casino properties.
Evidence
What Ryan Reviews in Louisiana 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 Louisiana
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
Louisiana Engagements
Ryan Dahlstrom accepts expert-witness engagements in Louisiana 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
Louisiana — Common Questions from Counsel
Can you sue a New Orleans bar for overserving?
What theories are available in a Louisiana bar or club case?
How does the French Quarter's open-container environment affect a case?
Louisiana Matter Under Review?
Submit a case inquiry for a confidential conflicts check and evaluation. Ryan responds to case inquiries within one business day.