William Maley sued Jared Shattuck for trespass and damages in the Supreme Court of Massachusetts. The case arose from a dispute between the two men over land rights, with each claiming ownership to certain property located in Boston. In his defense, Shattuck argued that he had acquired title to the land through an agreement with its former owner. However, Maley contended that this agreement was invalid because it did not comply with state law requiring written deeds for such transactions. After hearing both sides' arguments, the court ruled in favor of Maley on all counts and ordered Shattuck to pay him $1,000 as compensation for his losses due to trespass and damage caused by Shattuck's actions. The ruling established important legal precedent regarding real estate transactions within Massachusetts at that time; namely, that any transfer of title must be done according to state laws or else it will be considered voidable under common law principles.

In William Maley v. Jared Shattuck, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a contract between two parties could be enforced when one of them had died before it was executed. The majority opinion held that contracts are not binding if they have not been fully performed by both parties and that in this case, since one party had passed away prior to execution, the contract should be considered void. However, Justice Story dissented from this ruling on the grounds that there is no legal principle which requires mutual performance for a valid contract and thus he argued that even though one party has died before performing their part of the agreement, it should still be enforceable as long as all other requirements for a valid contract were met. He further noted that such an interpretation would promote justice and fairness among contracting parties who may otherwise suffer losses due to unforeseen circumstances beyond their control.