Adkins v. Uncle Bart's Inc

In Adkins v. Uncle Bart's Inc., 2000 UT 14, 1 P.3d 528, the plaintiffs claimed that the entitled Liquor Control Act created a common law duty and standard of care by making it unlawful for liquor license holders or their agents to furnish alcoholic beverages to any person "actually, apparently, or obviously drunk." Id. There, the Court conceded that as a general rule, "violation of a safety standard set by statute or ordinance constitutes prima facie evidence of negligence." Id. The Court nevertheless began our multi-pronged rejection of the Adkins plaintiffs' attempt to vivify a common law dramshop claim with a transplanted Liquor Control Act requirement, stating that "we have established that there is no common law basis to support a third-party negligence claim against dramshops." Id.