Dram Shop Expert Witness:
A Note from Dr. Willingham on His Retirement

A Farewell, and a Thank You

After 55 years working to prevent the harm caused by reckless, improper, and illegal alcohol service, Dr. Willingham, PhD, has retired from his active practice as a Dram Shop Expert Witness. He is no longer available for full time case consultation, business consultation, testimony, or litigation support.

Dr. Willingham is stepping back to spend the time he has left on the people and travel he cares about. But he is not totally walking away from the causes of his life. This site remains as a record of his career which explains and supports his continuing efforts to provide resources for the industry and the legal community he spent his life supporting.

His Career

Over 55 years, his efforts focused on preventing alcohol-related harm across the industry, including hotels, bars, restaurants, clubs, and other on-premises locations; off-premises retailers such as convenience and grocery stores; and specialty operators such as cruise line alcohol service. That effort included but was not limited to:

Service as a State Law Enforcement Commander for the Florida Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, retiring as a State Law Enforcement Major. He provided beverage and tobacco premises licensing, regulatory and policing activities, business and employee training, and assistance to alcoholic beverage and tobacco wholesalers and retailers.
Work as a national Dram Shop Expert Witness on more than 800 cases across the United States.
Service as a national alcohol service standard-of-care expert for multiple states, national public safety organizations, and industry related organizations.
Years spent as Florida’s Responsible Vendor Program Administrator, helping alcoholic beverage retailers serve and sell responsibly and legally.
Years spent as Florida’s Youth and Alcohol Program Administrator, helping alcoholic beverage retailers prevent youth access to alcohol.
Consultation with the U.S. Government and State Governments on practices to prevent youth access to tobacco products.
Publication of numerous documents and articles intended to prevent alcohol and tobacco related harms.
Business consulting for alcoholic sales and/or service was provided to owners assisting in developing lawful, safe, and responsible alcohol service policies, training, and business security practices.
Litigation support for the Civil Justice System, including case consultation and, where court procedure allowed, Amicus Curiae testimony on standards of care for responsible alcohol service, business security, and preventing intoxicated patrons from leaving the premises.

Free Industry Resources

Two resources remain freely available to anyone in the alcoholic beverage industry, no request required:

Eight training workbook volumes for alcohol servers developed after serving as Florida’s Responsible Vendor Program Administrator.
A Habitual Addiction Patron Training Outline, intended to help servers avoid harm to habitually addicted patrons and maintain compliance with Florida’s Dram Shop Law.
Find all of these documents under the Resources tab.

Professional Tools: For Qualified Requesters Only

Over the course of his career Dr. Willingham built a set of case-preparation tools, discovery requests, deposition question sets, and related documents drawn from decades of Dram Shop litigation. These are detailed, specific, and were built for use by attorneys and qualified professionals working Dram Shop cases, not for general distribution.

The Following Documents are Available on request:

Discovery Requests and Possible Deposition Questions — On-Premises Locations
Discovery Requests and Possible Deposition Questions — Off-Premises Locations, including Underage Sales
Requested Testimony of 30(b)(6) Corporate Representative
Public Safety Agency Records to Request and Consider
Specific Questions for a Bartender Regarding Underage Sales
Security-Related Discovery Requests and Possible Deposition Questions
Elements of Knowing Service to a Habitually Addicted Person

Because these tools carry functional weight in an active case, Dr. Willingham will review each request personally before any document is sent, to make sure they reach the people they were built for.

Please note which document you would like to receive.

Document Request

Thank You

Dr. Willingham thanks you for supporting his 55 years of the opportunity to do this work, and for visiting this site. He provides you with best wishes for your continued commitment to the safe, legal, and responsible service and sale of alcoholic beverages.

Dr. Willingham, PhD

Dr. Mark Willingham, Ph.D. provides consulting services and Court testimony on the details of and the principals of responsible alcohol retailing, responsible alcohol consulting, and business security matters as a standard of care expert. Dr. Willingham provides non-case specific testimony on the concept, principals, and necessary actions that constitute responsible alcohol retailing and compliance with legal requirements. His testimony is intended to assist the Jury form opinions about business’ practices to determine compliance with reasonable standards of care and obligations under law and harm causation.

Dr. Willingham provides Dram Shop case consultation and provides resources, including proposed discovery requests, proposed deposition and interrogatory questions, recommended training materials, and management practices so to guide trial attorneys in building a corpus of fact witness testimony and materials that lay out the proof elements the jury needs to hear to render a verdict in Dram Shop, premises security, and other litigation maters relating to alcoholic beverage sales and consumption in bars, restaurants, clubs, convenience stores, grocery stores, fraternities, cruise ships, and other locations where alcoholic beverage sire sold and/or consumed. Dr. Willingham has retired from reviewing case materials and the formation and defense of opinions concerning the actions, inactions, or mal actions of the beverage retailer and has shifted to helping attorneys determine and present fact witnesses to help the Jury can form its own opinions about the instant situation. Dr. Willingham policed the alcoholic beverage industry for 30 years and is a national expert in responsible alcohol retailing and consumption including alcohol-related harms.

Dr. Willingham Provides business consulting in the safe and lawful service or sale of alcoholic beverages including the development, implementation , and compliance monitoring reasonable and effective policies, practices, training, and management actions.

Who is Dr. Willingham?

In private practice, Maj. Mark Willingham, Ph.D. serves as a Litigation Consultant and Responsible Alcohol Retailing Consultant in alcohol related death and injury lawsuits and in the furtherance of responsible alcohol retailing practices in businesses and social situations. Dr. Willingham serves as a Standard of Care Expert in matters pertaining to the sale, distribution, or consumption of beverage alcohol, business security matters, and other aspects of the provision and consumption of alcohol and operation of businesses licensed to provide alcohol beverage or other places where alcohol is consumed.

Dram Shop Case Consultant

Dr, Mark Willingham’s background, education, and experience positions him as a national Dram Shop and Alcoholic Beverage Premises Liability expert qualified to assist the Court and Jury understand factors and elements relating to the sale, distribution, and consumption of beverage alcohol, understand the implications of evidence and testimony in such matters, and understand causation of alcohol-related harms.

Alcohol Solutions

Responsible Retailing of alcohol involves a combination of effective training, alcohol service policies and practices, and continual and effective management involvement. Dr. Willingham has extensive experience working with alcoholic beverage retailers, state and local regulators, and other stakeholders.

Dram Shop Expert Witness: A Note from Dr. Willingham on His Retirement