Probably one of England and Wales' most famous cases of all time (and most important). The precedent that this case set is still in place today and it is something that even people who know nothing to do with law are aware of: Duty of Care.
Summary:
Mrs Donoghue went to a cafe with a friend and this friend bought her a bottle of ginger bear. Mrs Donoghue discovered a dead snail at the bottom of the bottom once she had poured (and drank) it all out. The bottle was dark so there was no way of knowing that there could of been something at the bottom of it. She later claimed to have suffered stomach cramps and sickness to her doctor. As she didn't buy the drink herself, she thought that there couldn't be anything done to compensate her. Yet her case managed to reach the top of the law courts in England and Wales - the House of Lords - and she managed to win her claim against Stevenson and establish the modern law of negligence and the neighbourhood principle.
Lord Atkin said:
"The rule that you are to love your neighbour becomes in law you must not injure your neighbour; and the lawyer's question " Who is my neighbour ?" receives a restricted reply. You must take reasonable care to avoid acts or omissions which you can reasonably foresee would be likely to injure your neighbour. Who then in law is my neighbour ? The answer seems to be persons who are so closely and directly affected by my act that I ought reasonably to have them in contemplation as being so affected when I am directing my mind to the acts or omissions which are called in question."
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