Missouri Injury Attorney Stephen Schultz Makes Front Page of St. Louis Post Dispatch
Missouri injury attorney Stephen Schultz was featured in a front page article of the St. Louis Post Dispatch on April 14, 2010. The article, which can be read in full by clicking on this link, discussed the tragic circumstances surrounding a fatal car accident on March 21, 2009, in St. Louis County. The accident involved off-duty Sunset Hills police officer Christine Miller and five young adults, four of which lost their lives in the incident. Stephen Schultz filed a wrongful death lawsuit in St. Louis County Circuit Court, Cause No. 09SL-CC02537, alleging negligence against both Christine Miller and O'Leary's Restaurant & Bar. At the time of the crash, it was determined that Christine Miller was at least twice the threshold level of legal intoxication in Missouri. Miller had been consuming alcohol with friends and colleagues at O'Leary's shortly before the crash.
The St. Louis Post Dispatch had been following this story since the incident took place. Although approached by numerous news organizations, Mr. Schultz chose not to sit down with any reporters to discuss the merits of the case out of respect for his clients. This incident claimed the life of four young adults just entering into the prime of their lives. They were all highly educated, upstanding adults in the community. Despite never consuming alcohol in their lives, the plaintiffs were killed in an alcohol-related car accident. This is just another example that even if you choose not to drink & drive, you may very well be involved in such an accident due to the poor choices of others.
This case involved Missouri dram shop law, RSMo. 537.053, which makes it unlawful for bars to knowingly serve alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person. This puts the responsibility on the bar to have their employees properly trained to recognize the effects of alcohol on customers and to know when it is time to cut someone off. Some people may not agree with Missouri's dram shop law, but it makes sense to hold a bar partially responsible....after all, the bar is profiting off of the intoxication of its customers.