Boston Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer

Injured by a drunk driver in Boston, MA? Contact a trusted Boston drunk driving accident lawyer to seek justice and compensation.

Massachusetts calls drunk driving operating under the influence, or OUI, and the harm it causes is often devastating. A driver who gets behind the wheel after drinking has slower reactions, poor judgment, and less control of the vehicle. In Boston, these crashes often happen late at night as people leave bars and restaurants in areas like the Seaport, Fenway, and Faneuil Hall, or on highways like I-93 and the Mass Pike. Victims are left with serious injuries, surgeries, time away from work, and in the worst cases, the loss of a loved one. Even when the driver faces criminal charges, that case does not pay your medical bills or replace your lost income. You still have to deal with an insurance company that wants to pay as little as possible.

At Breakstone, White & Gluck, our auto accident attorneys specializing in drunk driving accident cases pursue every source of compensation available after an drunk driving (OUI) crash. In one case, we secured $1,000,000 for a victim of a drunk driver who suffered severe skull fractures. Get in touch with us today to find out how we can help. We gather police reports, breath and blood test results, receipts, and surveillance footage to prove the driver was impaired. We also investigate whether a bar or restaurant kept serving someone who was already visibly drunk, because Massachusetts law can hold that business responsible too. One of our founding partners handles your case directly, and we prepare it for trial from day one so the insurance company knows we are ready to fight.

Get a free consultation and learn how our Boston drunk driving accident lawyers can help you seek the compensation and justice you deserve.

Why Hire a Boston Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer?

When a drunk driver hits you, two separate legal cases begin at once. The state prosecutes the driver for OUI (Operating Under the Influence), a criminal charge. Separately, you have the right to pursue a civil injury claim against the driver’s insurance company and any other parties whose negligence contributed to the crash. That civil claim is what pays for your losses, and the insurance company will fight it. Here is why a lawyer matters:

• The criminal case won’t make you whole. Restitution covers only documented financial losses, is limited by what the driver can afford, and never includes pain and suffering.
• Insurers still try to pay less. Adjusters may push for a recorded statement or a quick settlement, and once you sign a release, you usually cannot ask for more.
• Evidence disappears fast. Test results, body camera footage, bar receipts, and witness accounts need to be secured quickly.
• Others may share the blame. Massachusetts law can hold a bar, restaurant, or liquor store responsible for serving a visibly intoxicated driver.
• The driver may be underinsured. A lawyer can find every policy that applies, including uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy.
• Your share of fault matters. Your compensation drops by your percentage of fault, and you recover nothing if you are found more than 50% at fault.
• Deadlines are strict. You generally have three years from the crash to file a lawsuit in Massachusetts.

How Breakstone, White & Gluck Helps Victims Hurt by Drunk Drivers in Boston, MA

After an OUI crash, you should be able to focus on healing, not on insurance adjusters and legal paperwork. Breakstone, White & Gluck takes on the entire legal process for you, from the first phone call to the final resolution. One of our founding partners handles your case personally, so you always know where things stand. Here is what that looks like:

• Free consultation. We listen to what happened, explain your rights in plain English, and lay out your options with no cost or obligation.
• Fast investigation. We move quickly to secure police reports, breath and blood test results, body camera footage, and witness statements before they are lost.
• Tracking where the driver drank. We look into whether a bar, restaurant, or liquor store kept serving the driver after they were visibly intoxicated.
• Handling the insurance companies. We take over every call and request from insurers so nothing you say gets used to reduce your claim.
• Documenting your full losses. We work with medical and financial experts to put a real number on your medical care, lost income, and future needs.
• Building the case for trial. We prepare every case as if a jury will hear it, using digital exhibits and crash reenactments to show exactly what happened.
• Negotiating from strength. Because insurers know we are ready for court, we push for a fair settlement and reject offers that fall short.
• Going to court when needed. If the insurance company refuses to pay what you deserve, our trial lawyers take your case before a Massachusetts jury.

Who We Represent in Boston OUI Crash Cases

We represent everyone injured by a drunk or impaired driver: other motorists, passengers in any vehicle, pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists. We also fight for families who have lost a loved one in a fatal drunk driving crash, pursuing wrongful death claims against the driver and any other responsible parties.

Our clients have suffered traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord damage, amputations, and severe burns, the kind of catastrophic harm that permanently changes a life.

“My most important role is to do everything I can to help my client restore his or her life to the best possible place it can be, as close as possible to where they were before someone else’s carelessness damaged it.” – Marc Breakstone

What to Do After a Boston Drunk Driving Crash

The decisions you make during the first 24 to 48 hours directly affect the strength of your civil case.

Get Medical Care and Report the Crash

Seek treatment immediately, even if you feel fine right now. Many serious injuries worsen in the days following a crash. A medical record connecting your injuries to the collision is the cornerstone of your claim. Confirm that a police report is filed with Boston Police or the Massachusetts State Police.

Do Not Talk to the At-Fault Driver's Insurer

The drunk driver's insurance company will contact you quickly seeking a recorded statement. You are not required to give one, and doing so without counsel almost always works against you. Direct every call to us.

Save Evidence at the Scene

Photograph the crash site, vehicle damage, and your visible injuries before anything is cleared. Write down the names and phone numbers of witnesses. Note any bar, restaurant, or private gathering the driver came from before the crash.

Call Us Before Key Evidence Is Gone

BAC (blood alcohol content) results, police dashcam and bodycam footage, and bar surveillance recordings can disappear within days. We promptly send legal preservation letters after being retained to help protect evidence for your case.

Need evidence secured today? Call 800-379-1244.

Who Pays Your Medical Bills in Massachusetts?

Massachusetts uses a layered, no-fault system that determines who covers your costs after a crash. Here is how it works:

• Personal Injury Protection (PIP): This coverage is mandatory on every Massachusetts auto policy and pays up to $8,000 of your medical bills and lost wages, regardless of who caused the crash.
• Health Insurance: Once PIP benefits run out, your private or public health coverage pays for continued treatment.
• MedPay: Optional add-on coverage that fills gaps your health plan leaves, such as deductibles, copays, and coinsurance.
• The Drunk Driver's Liability Insurance: This is the coverage that compensates you for pain, suffering, long-term medical care, and lost earning capacity. Maximizing this recovery is the core of your civil claim.
• Uninsured Motorist (UM) Coverage: If the drunk driver had no insurance or left the scene, your own UM policy steps in to pay for your injuries.

One pattern we consistently see in Boston drunk driving crashes is that the impaired driver carries only a minimum policy, now $25,000 per person for policies written or renewed since July 1, 2025. A serious injury treated at Boston Medical Center or Mass General can exhaust that within days. That is why we look right away at the underinsured motorist coverage in your household and at whether a bar or restaurant served the driver, because those are often the only sources large enough to cover a catastrophic injury.

How OUI Evidence Strengthens Your Injury Claim

A criminal OUI investigation generates evidence we use directly in your civil case. That evidence typically includes:

• BAC results at or above the legal limit of .08%
• Field sobriety test failures and the arresting officer's written observations
• Police dashcam and bodycam recordings from the arrest and crash scene
• The driver's own statements made to police at the scene

A documented OUI arrest shifts settlement leverage significantly. Insurance companies know exactly what that evidence looks like to a Massachusetts jury, and they price their offers accordingly.

What we see across the drunk driving claims we handle in Boston is that the criminal case moves on its own schedule in Boston Municipal Court, and the driver may refuse to answer questions in the civil case while charges are pending. We do not let your injury claim stall waiting for a verdict. We use the evidence the prosecution generates, such as breath test results and police video, and fill in the rest through civil discovery.

Can a Bar or Social Host Be Held Liable?

Massachusetts law allows us to hold third parties accountable when their conduct contributed to the crash. This matters most when a drunk driver's insurance policy limits are not enough to cover serious injuries.

• Dram Shop Liability: Under M.G.L. c. 138, § 69, any bar, restaurant, or liquor store that serves a visibly intoxicated person can be held financially responsible for the harm that person causes on the road.
• Social Host Liability: A private individual who knowingly continues to serve alcohol to a visibly intoxicated guest, knowing they plan to drive, can also face civil liability for the injuries that result.

In one case we handled, a drunk driver struck the car our 20-year-old client was riding in head-on. The restaurant that served him said he left after five beers, but we proved in discovery that he drank five more beers and two shots over five hours and that his server violated restaurant policy by failing to monitor his drinking. His blood alcohol was .256, and our client suffered facial and skull fractures that required surgery with plates and screws. The restaurant's insurer paid its $1 million policy limits, and the driver's insurer paid its $20,000 limits.

What Compensation You Can Recover

We pursue every category of loss, economic and non-economic, that the crash has caused:

• Past and future medical bills and rehabilitation costs
• Lost wages and reduced long-term earning capacity
• Physical pain and emotional suffering
• Permanent scarring, disfigurement, or disability
• Loss of consortium, the impact on your marriage and family relationships
• Wrongful death damages, including the victim's conscious suffering before death
• Punitive damages in wrongful death cases involving gross negligence, a standard drunk driving can meet

Massachusetts does not cap pain and suffering damages in most personal injury cases. Your recovery reflects the true scope of what has been taken from you.

“A verdict like that allows a catastrophically injured client to have a modicum of dignity, health and independence, and some enjoyment of an otherwise tortured life.” – Marc Breakstone

Can You Recover If the Driver Was Not Convicted of OUI?

Yes. The outcome of the criminal case has no bearing on your right to civil compensation.

A criminal conviction requires proof "beyond a reasonable doubt," the highest standard in law. Your civil claim only requires proof by a "preponderance of the evidence," meaning the driver's negligence more likely than not caused your injuries. A CWOF (Continuance Without a Finding), a dismissal, or an outright acquittal does not bar your injury claim.

“So grateful to Marc for all this help and I would recommend him to anyone in need of a brilliant Personal Injury attorney.” – Rebecca S.

How We Build Your Case

We prepare every case as if it is going to trial. That commitment, and the reputation it has earned over three decades, is what compels insurance companies to pay full value rather than gamble in front of a Massachusetts jury.

Secure BAC Results and Video

We subpoena BAC reports, breathalyzer calibration records, crash reports, and all dashcam and bodycam footage immediately, before anything is purged or overwritten.

Pull Bar Records and Surveillance

When a bar or restaurant may share liability, we move quickly to obtain point-of-sale drink receipts and surveillance recordings before those records are gone.

Work with Accident and Toxicology Experts

We retain accident reconstructionists to establish exactly how the crash occurred and toxicologists to explain, in terms a jury understands, how the driver's specific BAC level impaired their judgment and reaction time.

Present with Trial-Ready Technology

We use computer-animated crash reenactments and interactive digital evidence in court. These tools bring the facts to life for juries and make the full scope of your injuries impossible to dismiss.

“If an insurance company is going to stand by a doctor who reviews records, never examines the patient and says the treating physician is wrong, then you have to try that case. You have to force the reckoning that comes with a jury verdict.” – Marc Breakstone

Why Hire Breakstone, White & Gluck?

When you hire our firm, you work directly with Marc Breakstone, David White, or Ronald Gluck, a founding partner who personally manages your case from intake through resolution. We do not hand clients off to associates.

We don't buy billboards or advertise on TV. Our verdicts, settlements, and reputation speak for themselves.

• All three partners hold the AV Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the highest recognition for legal ability and professional ethics
• Consistently recognized as Top 100 Super Lawyers in Massachusetts and New England.
• David White served as President of the Massachusetts Bar Association. Marc Breakstone and Ronald Gluck serve as Governors of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys
• Partners listed in The Best Lawyers in America.

“There is no question about this: If any family member or friend needs a great lawyer, I will refer them to David White.” – Walid Dehni

Call 800-379-1244 to speak directly with a founding partner.

Our Results in Serious Injury and DUI Crash Cases

Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.

How Long You Have to File in Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, most injury victims have three years from the crash date to file a lawsuit. This deadline is known as the statute of limitations. Claims against a city, town, or other public employer require a written claim within two years under the Massachusetts Tort Claims Act, and a claim involving a defect in a public road requires written notice within 30 days.

Do not wait. Physical evidence disappears long before that three-year window closes.

“I knew that Ron had my best interests at heart, and that I could trust him to help me make the right decision.” – Katelyn Ludwig

Start Your Free Consultation

Your job is to recover. Our job is everything else: the evidence, the insurance fight, the expert witnesses, and the courtroom if that is what it takes. We handle every case on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay nothing unless we win for you.

You should not be in this fight alone. Call Breakstone, White & Gluck at 800-379-1244 for a free, confidential consultation.

Boston Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer - OUI FAQs

Does a Not-Guilty OUI Verdict Prevent Me from Filing a Civil Injury Claim in Massachusetts?

No. Your civil claim operates on a lower standard of proof than the criminal case. A not-guilty verdict, case dismissal, or CWOF does not prevent you from recovering full compensation for your injuries.

Can I Sue the Bar That Served the Driver Before My Boston Crash?

Yes. Under Massachusetts dram shop law, an establishment that serves a visibly intoxicated patron who then causes a crash can be held legally and financially responsible for your injuries.

Who Covers My Medical Bills Before My Civil Case Settles?

Your own auto policy's mandatory PIP coverage pays the first $8,000 of your medical costs, followed by your health insurer. We then pursue the full value of your damages from the at-fault driver's insurer at settlement or verdict.

What Happens If the Drunk Driver Had No Insurance or Fled the Scene?

Your own Uninsured Motorist (UM) coverage pays for your injuries when the at-fault driver is uninsured, and Massachusetts law treats hit-and-run crashes the same way.

Can You Obtain BAC Evidence from the OUI Criminal Case for My Civil Claim?

Yes. We coordinate with the District Attorney's office and issue subpoenas to secure BAC results, field sobriety records, and police video for use in your civil case.

Are Punitive Damages Available When a Drunk Driver Kills a Family Member in Massachusetts?

Yes. Massachusetts wrongful death law permits punitive damages when death results from gross negligence or willful misconduct, a standard that drunk driving can satisfy.

How Long Do I Have to File a Drunk Driving Lawsuit in Massachusetts?

Most victims have three years from the crash date, but claims against a public employer require a written claim within two years, and a road defect claim requires written notice within 30 days.