In the case of Blakey, Receiver v. Brinson (1931), the United States Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a Georgia state law that allowed for double liability on bank shareholders was applicable to national banks. The plaintiff, Blakey, acting as receiver for a failed national bank in Georgia, sought to enforce this double liability against Brinson and other defendants who were shareholders of the failed bank. The defendants argued that federal banking laws preempted state laws regarding shareholder liabilities in cases involving national banks. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Brinson and held that federal law governed matters related to shareholder liabilities for national banks and thus superseded any conflicting state laws. Therefore, under federal statute at the time which limited such liability to par value of shares owned by each shareholder rather than twice their value as per Georgian law; it concluded that Blakey could not impose additional financial obligations on these shareholders beyond what was specified under existing federal regulations.

In the dissenting opinion for Blakey, Receiver v. Brinson, it was argued that the majority's decision to uphold a lower court ruling denying recovery of funds from an insolvent bank's shareholders was incorrect. The dissenting justices believed that under Georgia law at the time of incorporation, shareholders were liable for their proportionate share of any deficit upon liquidation. They disagreed with the majority’s interpretation that subsequent changes in state law absolved these shareholders from such liability. In their view, this change did not apply retroactively and thus should not have been used as grounds to deny recovery in this case.