$6.25 Million

The Outcome: Evidence from the evening of the wreck was limited, as law enforcement who responded to the collision had no staff certified in administering a breathalyzer test and the drunk driver sustained injuries in the collision that prevented investigating officers from administering a field sobriety test. While a toxicology test was ordered by physicians at the emergency room, it was later canceled without explanation.

But that didn't stop us. We filed motions for pre-suit discovery in order to obtain subpoena power to conduct a dram shop investigation. After successful motions practice, we were able to obtain court orders for forensic downloads of the cell phones belonging to the drunk driver and the drunk driver’s passenger. Cell phone records revealed geolocation data, photographs, and text messages evidencing that the drunk driver and his passenger had been “bar hopping” at numerous bars in the Park Circle area of North Charleston in the nine hours before the collision occurred. We thereafter served subpoenas on various bars, resulting in numerous drink receipts for both the drunk driver and his passenger.

After over a year of thoroughly litigating liability and damages, the parties reached a global settlement for the full policy limits of the coverage available to the drunk driver and three separate bars.