In the case of James G. Wilson v. Lewis Rousseau and Charles Easton, Wilson brought a suit against Rousseau and Easton for damages caused by their negligence in failing to properly secure his goods while they were being transported on a steamboat owned by them. The Supreme Court held that although there was no contract between the parties, Rousseau and Easton had assumed responsibility for securing Wilson's goods when they agreed to transport them on their boat; therefore, they could be held liable for any damage or loss resulting from their failure to do so. Furthermore, it was determined that even if the defendants did not have actual knowledge of any risk posed by transporting such goods without proper security measures in place, they should have been aware of this risk due to general custom within the industry at that time. As such, Wilson was awarded damages based upon his losses incurred as a result of Rousseau and Easton’s negligence in failing to adequately secure his property during transportation aboard their vessel.

In the case of James G. Wilson v Lewis Rousseau and Charles Easton, Justice McLean delivered a dissenting opinion in which he argued that the plaintiff had not been given due process under the law. He noted that there was no evidence presented to support Rousseau's claim against Wilson for trespass on his land, and thus it could not be assumed that any such trespass had occurred. Furthermore, Justice McLean argued that even if a trespass did occur, it should have been tried by jury rather than decided upon by a court of equity as was done in this case. In conclusion, Justice McLean believed that Wilson's rights were violated when he was denied an opportunity to present his defense before being found liable for damages without sufficient proof or legal authority from either party involved in the dispute.