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Editor: Bob Battle
Profession: DUI Defense Lawyer

Category: Virginia DUI

The father of former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock, the baseball player who died recently while driving drunk, has filed suit against a number of entities, including the driver of the car that had stalled on the road, the pickup truck that had stopped to assist that car and the bar where Hancock spent several hours allegedly drinking.

Such a lawsuit would not win in Virginia. Even before getting to the issue that Virginia does not allow "dramshop" lawsuits against bars (usually, these suits involve someone injured by the drunk driver suing the bar where he got drunk), Virginia also still maintains the contributory negligence standard in personal injury actions. As Northern Virginia Personal Injury Lawyer Ben Glass explains about Virginia:

Here, if you are in any way, even one percent, responsible for your own mishap, you lose. In Virginia, even if the bar served him and he went out and killed someone else, that other person's family wouldn't win against the bar.

Not to minimize his death.. .his death is tragic...this lawsuit is silly.

Maybe his father's time would be better spent telling his son's story to a whole bunch of high school kids.

Visit Richmond DUI Lawyer Bob Battle's website for more details about this story.