Donoghue versus Stevenson by Jeff Heasman, The Pyramid Group

Donoghue v Stevenson is one of the most celebrated cases in legal history and is often affectionately referred to as the case of the snail and the ginger beer. There is no doubting that it has influenced the development of the law of negligence across the common law world. However, there are certain aspects to the case that are not dealt with in most of the law books and lectures.

This seminar takes a look behind the scenes by referring to some of the original court papers and documents such as Mrs Donoghue’s medical records.

Was there really ever a snail in the bottle of ginger beer? Why did Mrs Donoughue not report the incident at the time? Who were the main actors and protaganists? Why was the evidence never properly tested in court? How might a modern-day insurance company deal with the allegations made by Mrs Donoghue?

This seminar aims to shed new light on this famous case and to look at it from a very different, and at times, controversial angle.

Learning objectives

At the end of this event, the delegate will be able to identify:

• how to develop and use critical thinking skills to evaluate previously decided case law

• the historical context of the development of the law of negligence

• the background to the seminal case of Donoghue v Stevenson

• the facts of the case as a modern-day insurer would to decide whether the same outcome would be likely today!

Speaker biography

Jeff Heasman is a qualified English language trainer with over 10 years of experience working in the legal and insurance industries.

He is a former senior liability adjuster with Crawford and Company and former litigation executive with Thompsons Solicitors.

Jeff has taught business English and the language of international negotiations to company directors and MBA students in Spain, as well as having been Dean of the Faculty of Law and a lecturer in the law of torts at Cavendish University in Zambia. He has provided training in insurance law and insurance English to some of the world’s most prestigious organisations and has been a tutor in academic and legal English to undergraduate and postgraduate students at Swansea University in the UK.

As Director for Legal, Insurance and Maritime Programmes at The Pyramid Group, Jeff has overseen the accreditation and operation of legal English testing centres across Europe, Scandinavia, South America and Africa. In addition to providing training services, Jeff has also been working with insurance organisations to carry out readability audits and edits to key documentation such as policy wordings, explanatory material and advertisements.

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