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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. The governing framework in Rhode Island is R.I. Gen. Laws ch. 3-14. His opinions address operational standards — staffing, training, supervision, policy and procedure — and do not extend to engineering, toxicology or medical causation.
Rhode Island Law
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 work from the chapter as a whole; the notice and limitation provisions are not intuitive from the liability sections alone.
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.
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
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 a Rhode Island 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 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
Available for Rhode Island engagements
Ryan Dahlstrom accepts expert-witness engagements in Rhode Island 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
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 all inquiries within one business day.