McCutcheon v. David MacBrayne LTD.

Alexander McCutcheon (plaintiff) had his brother-in-law McSporran arrange for David MacBrayne Ltd. (MacBrayne) (defendant) to ship his car; McSporran signed shipping papers and paid the fee, but was not, on this occasion, given the risk note that MacBrayne customarily had consignors sign, which placed the risk of loss on the goods' owner. McSporran had sometimes, but not always, been asked to sign such a note on past shipments with MacBrayne, and neither he nor McCutcheon (who had always signed a risk note in his own past dealings) had ever actually read or understood its terms. When the vessel carrying McCutcheon's car negligently sank, the car was destroyed, and McCutcheon sued MacBrayne, which argued the risk note's terms protected it from liability even though McSporran had never signed one this time.