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Rhode Island · Liquor Liability Act
Rhode Island Liquor Liability & Hospitality Expert Witness
Ryan Dahlstrom accepts hospitality and entertainment expert-witness engagements in Rhode Island. 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 Rhode Island. 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 Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island
Liquor Liability Act
Rhode Island's liquor liability scheme is set out in R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 3-14, the state's Liquor Liability Act. Like Maine's, it is a comprehensive statutory chapter rather than a single liability section.
The chapter addresses the conduct that gives rise to licensee liability — including service to a person who is visibly intoxicated and service to a minor — together with the defences available and the procedural requirements a claimant must satisfy. Counsel should review the chapter as a whole, including its defenses and its limitation provisions.
The operational questions are the familiar ones and they are where a hospitality expert contributes: what the venue's written policy required, whether staff were trained and supervised to follow it, what the service records and video show about the condition of the patron at the point of service, and whether management intervened when it should have.
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
Rhode Island Venues and Operations
Rhode Island's licensed trade concentrates in Providence's Federal Hill and downtown districts, Newport's seasonal waterfront and wharf bar economy, university-adjacent operations, and a large summer event, wedding and sailing-season hospitality trade.
Evidence
What Ryan Reviews in Rhode Island 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 Rhode Island
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
Rhode Island Engagements
Ryan Dahlstrom accepts expert-witness engagements in Rhode Island 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
Rhode Island — Common Questions from Counsel
Where is Rhode Island's liquor liability law found?
What should out-of-state counsel watch for?
What is reviewed in a Newport seasonal waterfront case?
Rhode Island Matter Under Review?
Submit a case inquiry for a confidential conflicts check and evaluation. Ryan responds to case inquiries within one business day.