Do I have a case??

What is the name of your state?Illinois

Hi,

On April 22nd I was in a bar to watch a friend kareoke. I then had to use the bathroom and was waiting in line when another femaled decided to cut in line I asked her to go to the back of the line and she got in my face as well as my friends and started yelling at us and calling us names. She was within a foot of my face yelling in it. I felt intimidated and push her back so she was not in my face any longer. She then started to swing at me, I tried to block and she had rings on, she ended up breaking skin on my inner left arm, and punched me in the face where she broke an orbital bone, and fractured my nose, and gave me a concussion. I have since then been out of work due to post concussion syndrome. I requested 911 and medical attention and was denied by the bar and told to find a phone and do it myself. Do I have any rights to sue her or the bar?

Thanks,
Rebecca

beckilicious said:

What is the name of your state?Illinois

Hi,

On April 22nd I was in a bar to watch a friend kareoke. I then had to use the bathroom and was waiting in line when another femaled decided to cut in line I asked her to go to the back of the line and she got in my face as well as my friends and started yelling at us and calling us names. She was within a foot of my face yelling in it. I felt intimidated and push her back so she was not in my face any longer. She then started to swing at me, I tried to block and she had rings on, she ended up breaking skin on my inner left arm, and punched me in the face where she broke an orbital bone, and fractured my nose, and gave me a concussion. I have since then been out of work due to post concussion syndrome. I requested 911 and medical attention and was denied by the bar and told to find a phone and do it myself. Do I have any rights to sue her or the bar?

Thanks,
Rebecca

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I'm just learning about dram shop liability. If no one else answers you might want to look that up.

In my opinion you got what you deserved for getting yourself into a barroom brawl.

Wait for someone with more experience to come around but this is what I found about dram shop liability in Illinois:

Then there are the extremes. Under Illinois’ dram shop law, plaintiffs can recover after demonstrating: 1) proof of sale of alcohol to the patron; (2) injuries sustained by the patron; (3) proximate cause between the alcohol sale and intoxication; and (4) that intoxication was at least one cause of the third party damages. Notably absent from that list is that the defendant knew or should have known the patron was intoxicated, meaning that every person who sold the patron alcohol, whether or not he was intoxicated at the time, can face some degree of liability. Thus a savvy plaintiffs’ attorney sues not only the local bar where the third party drank himself silly, but also the popular chain restaurant where he had a few drinks with dinner. Liability can then extend to casinos and convenience stores; one Illinois court allowed a lawsuit against a company that dropped off self-serve barrels of beer at a union picnic.

Here is some more reading for you: http://64.233.179.104/search?q=cache:QE-Fqc4l7X0J:www.hklaw.com/content/newsletters/bevalc/alert112404.pdf+Charles+v.+Seigfried&hl=en

I would still wait for someone else to come along.

you can sue the other lady. forget about the bar since you haven't posted anything about why they would be liable.

the lady would defend her case by truthfully saying you pushed her first and started the fight. The fact that you lost the fight doesn't mean you are entitled to damages from the other lady.

Why didn't your friends back you up and smack that chick around after she clocked you?

Well, with the bar they have to call 911 when something breaks out in their facility. They refused to call 911 and refused to call me a paramedic. It all happened so quickly and the bouncers were there immediately.

I don't see it like that. She had no right invading my space and if she is going to be 6 inches from my face yelling I think I should have the right to move her from my space. I am hearing mixed stories. Some say I have the right to move her and others say I don't. Then even if she was defending herself as she claims she I dont think had the right to continuoulsy punch and break two bones and so forth.

beckilicious said:

Well, with the bar they have to call 911 when something breaks out in their facility. They refused to call 911 and refused to call me a paramedic. It all happened so quickly and the bouncers were there immediately.

I don't see it like that. She had no right invading my space and if she is going to be 6 inches from my face yelling I think I should have the right to move her from my space. I am hearing mixed stories. Some say I have the right to move her and others say I don't. Then even if she was defending herself as she claims she I dont think had the right to continuoulsy punch and break two bones and so forth.

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What has given you the impression that they must call for emergency assistance? Did the delay in receiving medical care somehow add to the injuries? It would appear that the injuries were caused by the fight, not a delayed response on the part of the bar.

stephenk said:

you can sue the other lady. forget about the bar since you haven't posted anything about why they would be liable.

the lady would defend her case by truthfully saying you pushed her first and started the fight. The fact that you lost the fight doesn't mean you are entitled to damages from the other lady.

Why didn't your friends back you up and smack that chick around after she clocked you?

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I agree with what you are saying. My personal opinion is that people should be responsible for their actions and the bar didn't force anyone to drink or fight. I'm in the learning stages and I know that I don't have much of a clue about this so I'm asking.

When does dram shop liability come into play?

My uncle is a bouncer in a bar and he told me that you HAVE to call 911 and HAVE to call for a paramedic when someone requests it. They made me wait over 30 minutes and yes, that cause me more pain, I am still in pain today and dealing with the side effects.

beckilicious said:

My uncle is a bouncer in a bar and he told me that you HAVE to call 911 and HAVE to call for a paramedic when someone requests it. They made me wait over 30 minutes and yes, that cause me more pain, I am still in pain today and dealing with the side effects.

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Bouncers are not the best source of legal information.

The pain was caused by the fight. If they had called right away you would still be in pain today. How do you figure their actions caused any difference in the amount of pain you feel today? Would the outcome of your treatment have been different if they had called instead of you?

When you called 911, did the police take a report? Was anyone charged? Do they have the name of the person who hit you? Did they do BAC on you/her and what was it?

There are ways to keep a person out of your face without pushing them.

If you were assulted in April it is too early to have PCS who gave you that Diagnosis?

Have you consulted an attorney?

You have got to be kidding me. Lady, you're the one who caused a physical altercation to occur, and now you want to sue? Here's the law - you had no right to touch the other woman under the facts you've presented. You should consider yourself lucky the other woman doesn't sue you for assault & battery. And if you were drinking that night, she won't have a hard time finding some shyster to take her case, since she can use the Dram Shop Act to go after the bar and you.


Maybe next time you'll learn to behave like a civilized human being before picking fights you can't win.

Yes, The cops took the report. No, I was not drinking. There wasn't any BAC's taken. I do not drink alcohol. I was simply there to root for my friend. That's it. My doctor diagnosed PCS. I disagree I DID NOT cause the altercation to occur. I can understand why you feel that way. She had NO right to cut in line nor to be up in my face. I asked her not to be in my face and with someone that close to me and raising their hands I felt like I was going to get hit.I do not know of anyone that would not have pushed her out of their way if they were in the same shoes. If she was truly defending herself then she would have blocked instead of hitting multiple times. If anything I was defending myself. I HAVE since this posting consulted an atty. I provided med records, pictures, and pr and he concur's with me.

beckilicious said:

Yes, The cops took the report. No, I was not drinking. There wasn't any BAC's taken. I do not drink alcohol. I was simply there to root for my friend. That's it. My doctor diagnosed PCS. I disagree I DID NOT cause the altercation to occur. I can understand why you feel that way. She had NO right to cut in line nor to be up in my face. I asked her not to be in my face and with someone that close to me and raising their hands I felt like I was going to get hit.I do not know of anyone that would not have pushed her out of their way if they were in the same shoes. If she was truly defending herself then she would have blocked instead of hitting multiple times. If anything I was defending myself. I HAVE since this posting consulted an atty. I provided med records, pictures, and pr and he concur's with me.

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You made a physical issue out of a childish one. You are the one who started the fight according to your story. Maybe in da hood people respond the way you did but people in a civilized society do not. She cut in line, that was not an excuse for getting physical with her.

How much is this concurrence going to cost you?

beckilicious said:

Yes, The cops took the report. No, I was not drinking. There wasn't any BAC's taken. I do not drink alcohol. I was simply there to root for my friend. That's it. My doctor diagnosed PCS. I disagree I DID NOT cause the altercation to occur. I can understand why you feel that way. She had NO right to cut in line nor to be up in my face. I asked her not to be in my face and with someone that close to me and raising their hands I felt like I was going to get hit.I do not know of anyone that would not have pushed her out of their way if they were in the same shoes. If she was truly defending herself then she would have blocked instead of hitting multiple times. If anything I was defending myself. I HAVE since this posting consulted an atty. I provided med records, pictures, and pr and he concur's with me.

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There is no excuse for what you did. You will need an assessment by a neuropsychologist to be an expert witness re PCS if you take legal action, it has been less than 1 month since your injury, that is not long enough for it to be PCS. Did the police or DA bring charges against the person who hit you?
Is this attorney going to take your case on contingency?