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Michigan · Name-and-retain requirement
Michigan Dram Shop & Bar Operations Expert Witness
Ryan Dahlstrom accepts hospitality and entertainment expert-witness engagements in Michigan. 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 Michigan. 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 Michigan 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. The governing framework in Michigan is MCL § 436.1801. His opinions address operational standards — staffing, training, supervision, policy and procedure — and do not extend to engineering, toxicology or medical causation.
Michigan Law
Name-and-retain requirement
Michigan's Dram Shop Act sits in the Liquor Control Code at MCL § 436.1801. A retail licensee may not directly or indirectly sell, furnish or give alcohol to an individual who is visibly intoxicated, and a person injured by that individual may bring an action against the licensee.
Visibly intoxicated is not defined by a fixed test; Michigan courts have treated it as intoxication apparent to an ordinary observer. The standard focuses on observable signs at the time of service rather than on blood alcohol content, which is why video and service records usually matter more than toxicology alone.
Michigan's distinctive procedural feature is the name-and-retain requirement: the alleged visibly intoxicated person must be named in the action and retained until its conclusion. The purpose is to prevent collusion by keeping that person financially exposed, and it shapes both pleading strategy and the practical dynamics of settlement.
Statutes and regulatory schemes change, and this is not legal advice. Citations were verified against the state code or controlling decision and the named regulator at the time of writing; counsel should confirm the provision current to the date of loss. Ryan offers opinions on operational standards, not on the law itself.
Hospitality Context
Michigan Venues and Operations
Michigan's licensed trade includes Detroit's entertainment and casino district, Grand Rapids' large brewery and taproom sector, Ann Arbor and East Lansing college bar corridors, and northern Michigan seasonal resort and marina operations.
Evidence
What Ryan Reviews in a Michigan Matter
- 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 Michigan
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
Michigan Engagements
Available for Michigan engagements
Ryan Dahlstrom accepts expert-witness engagements in Michigan and in all 50 states. His CV documents engagements in nine jurisdictions — Texas, Nevada, New Mexico, Illinois, Utah, Washington, California, New York and Kentucky. Where a state is not among those, it means no engagement there is publicly disclosed in the CV; it does not limit availability, and the operational standards at issue in hospitality and entertainment litigation do not change at a state line. What changes is the cause of action available and the evidence that proves it.
Questions
Michigan — Common Questions from Counsel
What is Michigan's name-and-retain requirement?
How is 'visibly intoxicated' judged in Michigan?
Do brewery taprooms raise distinct issues in Michigan?
Michigan Matter Under Review?
Submit a case inquiry for a confidential conflicts check and evaluation. Ryan responds to all inquiries within one business day.