The legal landscape regarding the issue of alcohol consumption and service in public facilities has changed dramatically in recent years. You must be willing to implement policies and procedures that put the safety of the patron first and that limit the extent of your legal liability.

Here are some quick tips to help reduce risks and to limit the number of potential lawsuits:

• Prepare written policies governing alcohol service
• Distribute and publicize these policies to avoid the misunderstanding of your expectations
• Have employees sign written polices to confirm they have reviewed and understood them
• Avoid combining alcohol and potentially dangerous activities
• Have a plan to ensure that intoxicated guests can be taken home safely (i.e. hire a driver service or have a direct line to cab company with a "house" credit account)
• Ensure that servers have experience and training—they should be able to identify signs of intoxication and understand that they could be held civilly liable
• Don’t give alcohol to people who are intoxicated
• Give servers the authority to refuse service to intoxicated guests. Supervisors should support servers' decisions
• Prepare to have a friendly word with anyone becoming intoxicated
• Ask if the person has a designated driver or alternate means of transportation,
• Ask the person to surrender car keys and,
• If necessary, call the police.