The President, Directors, and Company of the Bank of the United States brought a suit against Thomas Corcoran for failing to pay back a loan. The bank argued that it had lent money to Corcoran with an agreement that he would repay it in installments over time. However, Corcoran failed to make any payments on his debt after two years had passed since the original loan was made. In response, Corcoran claimed that he should not be held liable for repayment because there were no written documents outlining their agreement or detailing how much interest was due on the loan. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of the bank and found that verbal contracts are legally binding under certain circumstances as long as they can be proven through other evidence such as witnesses or circumstantial proof. This case established precedent which has been used ever since when determining whether oral agreements are valid in court proceedings.

In the case of The President, Directors, and Company of the Bank of the United States v. Thomas Corcoran, Justice Story delivered a dissenting opinion in which he argued that Congress had not exceeded its constitutional authority by granting to the bank an exclusive right to issue notes for circulation as money. He reasoned that while Congress was prohibited from coining money or issuing paper currency without value, it could grant privileges such as this one to private corporations if they were necessary and proper for carrying out other powers granted by the Constitution. Furthermore, Justice Story contended that since banks are essential instruments in facilitating commerce between states and foreign nations—a power expressly given to Congress—the privilege granted here was within their scope of authority. In conclusion, he maintained that allowing such privileges did not violate any part of either state or federal law; therefore it should be upheld.