In many situations, if you were a victim of violence at a bar you also can sue the bar itself and recover damages for your injuries. You have the right to remain safe while on the premises, and if you're hurt at the bar, the bar owners may be liable for your injuries.Suing the bar turns on whether you can demonstrate that the bar owners, through their management and staff, were negligent.
Generally this means that you must show that they failed to prevent the violent altercation from happening, or failed to adequately protect other bar patrons who weren't involved in the altercation.
You'll also need information about the bar owners, so you can figure out where to send the lawsuit documents once you have them completed.
 Your complaint lists factual allegations that, if proven, will demonstrate that you were the victim of violence at the bar and the bar owner must pay for the damages you incurred as a result.Generally, you'll want to file your lawsuit in the county where the bar is located. That county may have forms available that you can use to draft your complaint if you've decided to represent yourself.
However, keep in mind that if you've decided to sue the bar owners, they likely will have attorneys representing them. In addition, they probably have a liability insurance company that also will have attorneys involved in the litigation.
For this reason, you want to hire an attorney of your own if you haven't already. Keep in mind that most attorneys take cases like this on contingency, so you won't have to pay anything out-of-pocket for legal representation.
When your attorney completes your complaint, they'll go over it with you to make sure you understand it. If you see anything that seems inaccurate, let your attorney know.
 To initiate your lawsuit, you must take your complaint along with two copies to the clerk of the court that you want to hear your case. The clerk will stamp your documents and give the copies back to you.If you've hired an attorney, they'll take care of filing the complaint for you. It's not necessary for you to go along unless you want to observe the process.
Your documents must be accompanied by a filing fee, typically several hundred dollars. Your attorney will add this to the costs of your case, which will be taken out of any settlement or award you receive.
If you're representing yourself and can't afford the filing fees, ask the clerk for a fee waiver application. You'll provide the court with information about your income and assets. If these fall below a threshold amount set by your state, you won't have to pay court costs for your lawsuit.
The clerk will stamp your documents "filed" with the date and assign your case a unique case number. The copies will then be returned: one for your own records and one for the bar owners.
 Once your lawsuit has been filed, you must get a copy of the documents to the bar owners so they have legal notice that a lawsuit has been filed against them. Legal service of process allows the court to verify that the defendant had notice of the lawsuit.Businesses typically have a specified agent for service of process. This may be one of the owners of the bar or a business attorney.
The usual method of service is to pay the county sheriff's department a small fee. A sheriff's deputy then hand-delivers the documents to the bar's agent for service of process.
You also may be able to use mail service, which involves sending the documents to the bar's registered agent using certified mail with return receipt requested.
After service is complete, you must fill out a proof of service document to file with the court.
 The bar owners have a limited period of time after being served with your lawsuit to file a written response. If no response is filed, you may be entitled to win your lawsuit by default.However, you shouldn't expect the bar owners to fail to respond to your lawsuit. On the contrary, expect to receive an aggressive response that may include a denial of your allegations and a motion to dismiss.
If the bar owners move to dismiss your case, you must attend a court hearing and argue that your case includes a factual dispute that can only be resolved with a trial.
Typically you will be unable to continue any other work on your case until the judge rules on the motion to dismiss.
On the other hand, you also may receive a settlement offer even before the bar owners file a written answer to your complaint.
 Once the pleadings (your complaint and the bar owners' answer) have been filed, the bar owners may send a settlement offer over to you or your attorney. It's your decision whether to accept or reject this offer.Particularly if the bar has liability insurance, you may be contacted by an insurance adjustor regarding your complaint.
Don't be offended if the initial settlement offer is far lower than you expected. You can reject it outright, or make a counteroffer.
Your attorney will advise you on what to do with the settlement offer, but remember the ultimate decision is yours alone.
If your attorney is pressuring you to take the settlement, you may want to talk to somebody else about it before you make your final decision.
Gather information about the incident.
Draft your complaint.
File your complaint.
Have the bar served.
Evaluate the response.
Consider any settlement offer.
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