Why is the case of Donoghue v Stevenson regarded as the foundation of the modern law of negligence?
Before this case, it was not possible for the person at the front end of a contractual chain (Ms. Donoghue) to sue the person at the back end of the contractual chain (Mr. Stevenson) for damages suffered by the person at the front end due to the negligence of the person at the back end. Instead, the law said that the person at the front end had to sue the person next in line in the contractual chain and that that person then had to sue down the line until the person at the end of the contractual chain was sued by the person with whom he/she/it had a contract. This rule was abandoned in this case. This is the importance of it — but you must note that, if the ginger beer bottle had been made of clear glass, Ms. Donoghue would not have won. It was because the bottle was sealed and one could not see the snail in it because the glass was dark brown, that the House of Lords held in her favour.
