In the case of William A. Bradley v. The Washington, Alexandria and Georgetown Steam Packet Company, Bradley was suing for damages after his goods were damaged while being transported on a steamboat owned by the company. He argued that he had paid an extra fee to ensure safe transport of his goods but they were still damaged due to negligence on behalf of the boat's crew. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Bradley, finding that it was reasonable for him to expect safe passage based on what he had been promised and paying for additional protection against damage or loss during transit. They also found that since there was no contract between them specifying any other terms or conditions regarding liability, then it should be assumed that all parties involved would act with reasonable care when handling each others' property - something which did not happen in this case as evidenced by the damage done to Bradleys' goods.

In the case of William A. Bradley v. The Washington, Alexandria and Georgetown Steam Packet Company, Chief Justice Taney wrote a dissenting opinion in which he argued that the plaintiff should be granted damages for breach of contract due to the defendant's failure to provide adequate transportation services as agreed upon in their contract. He stated that since there was no dispute over whether or not a valid agreement had been made between both parties, it was clear that an obligation existed on behalf of the defendant company to fulfill its contractual obligations and thus any losses incurred by Mr. Bradley were directly caused by their negligence or willful misconduct. Furthermore, he noted that even if some degree of fault could be attributed to Mr. Bradley himself for failing to properly inspect his goods prior to shipment, this did not absolve the defendant from liability as they still failed in their duty under law and equity principles established within common law jurisprudence at large; therefore they should have been held liable for all resulting damages suffered by him regardless of any contributory negligence on his part.