Serving Plaintiff & Defense Attorneys Nationwide
(702) 696-8745Expert Witness Services
From initial case review through trial testimony, Ryan Dahlstrom provides expert witness services across all phases of litigation involving dram shop, liquor liability, premises liability, and hospitality operations.
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Alcohol Over-Service Liability & Visible Intoxication Opinions
Dram shop liability holds licensed alcohol vendors — bars, restaurants, nightclubs, casinos, and hotels — responsible for injuries caused by patrons served while visibly intoxicated. Ryan Dahlstrom brings 35+ years of hands-on hospitality operations experience to dram shop litigation, evaluating whether the establishment's alcohol service practices met or fell below industry standards.
For Attorneys
Dram shop cases turn on whether staff knew or should have known the patron was visibly intoxicated. Ryan has trained servers and bartenders and draws on that experience to evaluate what a trained alcohol service professional would observe and how industry standards call for staff to respond.
What's Included
Licensing, Responsible Service & Regulatory Compliance
Liquor liability is a complex, state-specific area that intersects licensing, responsible service mandates, safe harbor provisions, and regulatory obligations. Ryan Dahlstrom analyzes whether an establishment's operating practices were consistent with applicable liquor licensing requirements, responsible service standards, and industry practice.
For Attorneys
In states that provide a responsible-service (safe harbor) defense, such as Texas, the defense typically depends on documented training and actual practice. Ryan evaluates those training records and practices. Ryan evaluates the establishment's licensing conditions, training records, and service practices so counsel can see how its operations compared with regulatory requirements and industry standards on the date of the incident.
What's Included
Assessing Foreseeability, Security Protocols & Use of Force
Security staffing, training, and response are central issues in many injury claims at bars, nightclubs, and entertainment venues. Ryan Dahlstrom draws on decades of experience managing security operations in high-volume nightlife environments to evaluate whether the establishment's security measures were adequate, whether the risk of violence was foreseeable, and whether security personnel acted appropriately in response to the incident.
For Attorneys
Foreseeability is the cornerstone of negligent security claims. Ryan's operational background in managing security at major nightclubs and entertainment venues — combined with his ASIS International membership — gives him the standing to opine on both the adequacy of security planning and the conduct of security personnel in the moment.
What's Included
Premises Conditions, Maintenance & Management Practices
Premises liability cases in hospitality environments call for an expert who understands the operational realities of running a bar, restaurant, or entertainment venue. Ryan Dahlstrom evaluates the physical conditions, maintenance practices, and management decisions at issue in a patron injury, measured against hospitality industry standards.
For Attorneys
Ryan's decades of managing and consulting for hospitality venues give him an operator's view of how conditions are inspected, reported, and corrected, and what a reasonably prudent operator's procedures would include.
What's Included
Analyzing Falls in Hospitality & Entertainment Environments
Slip, trip, and fall incidents in bars, restaurants, and entertainment venues involve a unique intersection of premises conditions, patron behavior, and operational factors — including alcohol service. Ryan Dahlstrom analyzes the full picture: the physical conditions at the time of the incident, the establishment's maintenance and inspection practices, and the role of alcohol service in the patron's condition and awareness.
For Attorneys
Slip and fall cases in alcohol-serving establishments often involve the interplay of premises conditions and intoxication. Ryan can address both the premises conditions and the alcohol service issues in a single engagement.
What's Included
Establishing the Benchmark for Responsible Operations
Licensed bars, restaurants, hotels, nightclubs, and live music venues operate against recognized hospitality industry standards. Ryan Dahlstrom provides a comprehensive review of whether the establishment's policies, procedures, training, and on-the-ground operations met or fell below the accepted standard of care for their specific venue type.
For Attorneys
This service is foundational to virtually every dram shop, premises liability, and negligent security case. Ryan's 35+ years of hands-on operational experience inform his evaluation of what a reasonably prudent operator would have done in the same circumstances.
What's Included
Identifying Visible Signs of Intoxication at the Time of Service
A critical element in dram shop litigation is whether the patron was visibly intoxicated at the time alcohol was served. Ryan Dahlstrom applies his deep operational knowledge of alcohol service environments to analyze the totality of available evidence — including surveillance footage, POS records, witness statements, and staff accounts — to form an opinion on whether visible signs of intoxication were present and whether they should have been recognized by a trained server or bartender.
For Attorneys
Whether visible signs of intoxication were present at the time of service is a central factual question in most dram shop cases. Ryan's experience training alcohol service staff informs his evaluation of what a trained server would observe and how industry standards call for staff to respond.
What's Included
Correlating Toxicology Reports with Operational Evidence
When a toxicologist's report establishes a patron's blood alcohol content at or near the time of an incident, Ryan Dahlstrom provides the operational bridge between that scientific finding and the establishment's records. He reviews the toxicologist's conclusions in the context of POS transaction records, surveillance footage, and all available evidence to form an opinion on the service timeline and the establishment's role in the patron's level of intoxication.
For Attorneys
A toxicologist establishes blood alcohol content; Ryan evaluates the operational evidence around it. He compares the toxicologist's findings with POS transactions, service events, and surveillance footage to assess whether the service record is consistent with industry standards for responsible alcohol service.
What's Included
Evaluating Staff Training Programs and Operational Policies
Training programs and written policies are central to evaluating whether an establishment's operations met industry standards. Ryan Dahlstrom has authored over 1,000 pages of hospitality training materials and has trained hundreds of alcohol service professionals. He applies that expertise to evaluate whether an establishment's training and policies were adequate, current, and actually implemented.
For Attorneys
Ryan evaluates both whether written policies existed and whether they were followed in practice. Ryan's experience developing and implementing training programs at scale gives him the credibility to identify the difference between a genuine compliance culture and paper compliance.
What's Included
Expert Analysis of Food Service, Management & Operational Standards
Restaurants present a distinct set of operational standards and liability exposures — from food service and alcohol service to staffing, management oversight, and physical premises. Ryan Dahlstrom's extensive background in restaurant consulting and operations gives him the expertise to evaluate whether a restaurant's practices met the applicable standard of care in cases involving patron injury, alcohol-related incidents, or management negligence.
For Attorneys
Restaurants combine food service, alcohol service, and table-service staffing in one operation. Ryan's restaurant consulting work informs his evaluation of how the establishment's practices compared with industry standards.
What's Included
Crowd Management, Event Safety & Venue Operations
Live music venues and concert environments present elevated safety challenges: large crowds, alcohol service, security demands, and the unpredictability of live events. Ryan Dahlstrom has extensive experience programming and managing live entertainment events — including major nightclub shows and festival-scale productions. He applies that experience to evaluate venue safety, crowd management, security response, and operational decision-making in cases involving injury or death at live music events.
For Attorneys
Live event cases often involve venue operators, promoters, security contractors, and alcohol service at once. Ryan's background programming and managing entertainment events allows him to evaluate each party's operational role against industry practice.
What's Included
Comprehensive, Court-Ready Expert Reports
Ryan Dahlstrom prepares clearly written expert reports that state each opinion, the facts and materials it rests on, and the methodology applied, in language accessible to judges and juries and prepared with Daubert and Frye standards in mind.
For Attorneys
Ryan's reports set out each opinion, the facts and materials it rests on, and the industry standards applied. He works with retaining counsel on scope, materials, and disclosure deadlines; the opinions themselves follow the evidence.
What's Included
Deposition and Trial Testimony Grounded in Industry Standards
An expert's value is ultimately measured in the courtroom. Ryan Dahlstrom has provided trial and deposition testimony in hospitality and entertainment matters across the country. His testimony is grounded in real-world operational experience, delivered with clarity and confidence, and designed to make complex hospitality and alcohol service concepts accessible to judges and juries.
For Attorneys
Ryan explains operational concepts such as alcohol service, staffing, security, and venue procedures in plain language for judges and juries. His background as a hospitality industry educator means he is comfortable in front of an audience and skilled at making abstract standards concrete and relatable.
What's Included
Ready to Retain?
Contact Ryan Dahlstrom to discuss your case, confirm availability, and receive a fee schedule. Ryan responds to case inquiries within one business day.