Attorney for bar in dram shop suit withdraws

A Beaumont judge has allowed an attorney to withdraw as defense counsel for a local bar named in a dram shop suit.

Last April, Laretta Hill filed suit against Karlon Travis Bowen, Kandace Bowen and Mid-County Ventures (Whiskey River) in Jefferson County District Court.

Court records show that Whiskey River is the suit's sole remaining defendant.

On April 23 the bar's former attorney, Jerry Gallier, filed a motion to withdraw, asserting that he intended to move and would no longer be able to communicate with his client.

Judge Milton Shuffield, 136th District Court, granted the motion on May 4, citing that Gallier's difficulty communicating with Whiskey River constitutes grounds for withdrawal, court papers say.

In her suit, Hill claims she was riding in a vehicle driven by Bowen traveling east on Interstate 10 when Bowen took the exit ramp at milepost 856 and struck the concrete crash pad.

Hill claims she sustained injuries, physical impairment, disfigurement, extreme physical and mental pain and suffering and anguish, the suit states. In addition, she incurred medical costs, the complaint says.

Brian D. Sutton and Stephanie H. Harris of Sutton and Jacobs in Beaumont represent her.

Case No. D189-736