Alcohol sellers would face specific rules for lawsuits over harm

South Carolina would make these rules the only way to sue licensed alcohol sellers for harm caused by serving alcohol. Claims would cover injury, death, or property damage. Covered sellers include owners, workers, and others operating as one business with a seller or whose conduct the seller is legally responsible for. The injured person must show it is more likely than not that the seller knowingly served someone visibly drunk and that the service helped cause the harm. The signs of intoxication must have been obvious to a server trained under state rules. Sellers would not be treated as knowing about acts that made someone drunk elsewhere. The person who drank could not bring this particular claim. Separate rules would cover people under 19, and certain claims by people 19 or older would be barred. If a party dies, their estate representative could continue or face the claim. The rules would take effect upon the Governor’s approval. Claims and rights already pending or established at that time would remain protected.

People age 19 or older would be barred from certain claims against licensed alcohol sellers. These exclusions cover people who were at least 19 when the seller sold, served, or directly provided the alcohol. The passenger exclusion applies to injury or death when the passenger knew the driver was intoxicated. The property exclusion applies when the person entrusted the property knowing the recipient was intoxicated, was addicted to intoxication, or habitually became intoxicated and tended to drive while intoxicated.

People under 19 would be allowed to sue a licensed seller for harm caused by alcohol knowingly provided to them. The person must have been under 19 when the seller sold, served, or directly provided the alcohol. The person must show it is more likely than not that the seller knowingly provided the alcohol and that doing so helped cause injury, death, or property damage. A seller could defeat this claim by proving it used a digital identification-checking system approved by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to confirm the identification was valid.

Courts would award sellers reasonable attorney’s fees of at least $5,000 plus court costs for claims an attorney unreasonably starts or continues. The fee rule would apply to lawsuits against licensed alcohol sellers brought under these provisions. A reasonable attorney in the same circumstances must have considered the claim unjustified by the facts. The seller must request the award. Losing a case alone would not meet the rule. The seller must request payment within 10 days after a trial ends with a verdict or the case ends through a ruling without trial, a judge-directed verdict, or a ruling overriding the verdict.