What to know about house parties

Firm News,Social Host Liability On Saturday, October 13, 2018

Whether it’s for fun, for the holidays, or for celebrations, it’s not uncommon to find people throwing parties in Connecticut. Sometimes, drinking may be involved. There might even be minors drinking, which some households allow for during the holidays and so on. How does social liability tie into that?

First of all, FindLaw defines a social host as someone who provides alcohol to others without having a serving license. In some cases, the social host can be held liable for minors who drink at their event, or for giving alcohol to people who are already too intoxicated and shouldn’t be given more to drink.

In cases in which a minor who has consumed alcohol either becomes injured or injures another party, the host can be held liable for that injury. It’s less frequent, but sometimes, a social host can even be liable if someone who drank at their event later gets into an accident that causes a third party harm. For example, if they get behind the wheel and end up hitting someone on the way home.

Connecticut itself has an act that prohibits minors from being served alcohol even on private property or in private residences. This not only means hosts cannot serve alcohol to minors knowingly, but that they also must make every effort possible to halt others from allowing minors to drink on their property.

Laws like this are important to understand for anyone who enjoys hosting social gatherings. This way, everyone knows their legal responsibilities and can work together to uphold them.

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