Kiriakos v. Phillips: Maryland Adults Who Host Underage Drinking Can Now Be Sued
Every parent of a teenager knows the fear: a party at someone's house, an adult who looks the other way — or worse, buys the beer — and a carload of kids on the road afterward. For decades, Maryland law had almost nothing to say to the families shattered by what happens next. Earlier this month, the Court of Appeals of Maryland finally said something, and it matters.
The decision
On July 5, 2016, in Kiriakos v. Phillips (consolidated with Dankos v. Stapf), 448 Md. 440, 139 A.3d 1006, the Court of Appeals — in an opinion by Judge Adkins — recognized a limited form of civil social host liability in Maryland. The consolidated cases arose from two tragedies with the same root: adults who knowingly furnished alcohol to minors, or knowingly allowed minors to drink at their homes. In one case, an underage driver who had been drinking at an adult's home drove off and struck a pedestrian. In the other, a 17-year-old died after riding in the bed of a pickup truck following an underage drinking party at an adult's house.
The Court held that adults who violate Md. Code, Criminal Law § 10-117(b) — the statute prohibiting adults from knowingly and willfully allowing underage drinking at properties they control — owe a civil duty to those the statute is designed to protect. The reasoning: § 10-117(b) embodies a clear public policy of protecting minors, whom the Court emphasized are uniquely vulnerable to alcohol, and adults who flout that policy can be answerable in tort for the foreseeable carnage that follows.
Why this is a big deal: Maryland has no dram shop liability
To appreciate Kiriakos, you have to know what Maryland law looked like on July 4. Just three years ago, in Warr v. JMGM Group (2013), the Court of Appeals declined to impose dram shop liability — meaning a bar that overserves a visibly drunk patron who then kills someone on the road generally cannot be sued in Maryland. Against that backdrop, families harmed by underage drinking parties had essentially one defendant: the intoxicated (and usually judgment-proof) young driver.
| Before Kiriakos | After Kiriakos | |
|---|---|---|
| Bar overserves adult patron | No liability (Warr, 2013) | Unchanged — still no dram shop liability |
| Adult knowingly hosts/furnishes alcohol to minors | No recognized civil claim | Civil duty recognized; suit may proceed |
| Who can be sued after a teen drinking tragedy | Usually only the intoxicated driver | The driver and the adult who enabled the drinking |
The limits
Kiriakos is deliberately narrow. It is tied to § 10-117(b): the adult must have knowingly and willfully allowed underage drinking at a property under their control. It is not general liability for anyone who serves alcohol, and it does not disturb Warr's no-dram-shop rule for licensed establishments serving adults. Expect hard-fought factual battles over what the host actually knew.
Proving what the host knew
Because knowledge is the battleground, these cases are built from the digital and physical residue of the party itself: group texts and social media invitations, photos and videos posted that night, receipts for the alcohol, statements from the young people who were there, and 911 or police records if officers responded. Neighbors often prove valuable — recurring parties tend to be noticed. On the recovery side, the practical target is usually the host's homeowner's or renter's insurance policy; whether and how a particular policy responds to a § 10-117(b) claim is its own layer of analysis, and insurers can be expected to test the boundaries of this brand-new duty. None of this evidence gathers itself, and most of it disappears or gets deleted within weeks.
What this means for injured people in Maryland
If your family has been devastated by a crash or other tragedy that traces back to an underage drinking party — whether your child was the victim of a drunk underage driver, or was the young person who died — Maryland law now recognizes a claim against the adults who made it possible. These cases demand rapid investigation: who bought the alcohol, who was home, what the texts and social media posts show, what the police reports and witness statements reveal about the party. That evidence fades fast, and homeowner's insurers move quickly to shape the narrative.
No lawsuit undoes a loss like the ones behind these consolidated cases. But Kiriakos means the adults who choose to let children drink are no longer invisible to the civil justice system — and that accountability is how conduct changes.
If you or a loved one has been hurt, call Posey Lebowitz at (202) 524-0123 or send us a message for a free consultation.
Part of our DMV case law archive, compiled in 2026 to reflect the archive of some of the most important decisions in injury law.
Update: Kiriakos remains good law — and Maryland still has no dram shop liability. See our 2021 look at Kiriakos five years on.