McLoughlin v. O'Brian
House of Lords
[1982] 2 All ER 298

- Written by Mary Phelan D'Isa, JD
Facts
A wife and mother of three (plaintiff) suffered nervous shock after learning that her husband and children had been in a car accident. The wife rushed to the hospital, where she saw her husband and two of her children severely injured and covered in blood and grime and was informed that her youngest child had died in the crash. The wife thereafter sued for damages for the nervous shock she suffered. The trial court dismissed the wife’s claim after finding no duty was owed to her. The court of appeal affirmed, and the wife appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Lord Wilberforce, J.)
Concurrence (Lord Bridge of Harwich, J.)
Concurrence (Lord Russell of Killowen, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 816,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.