In Bull v. Bank of Kasson, the Supreme Court of the United States was asked to decide whether a bank could be held liable for the wrongful acts of its officers. The case arose when the Bank of Kasson refused to honor a check drawn on it by the plaintiff, William Bull. Bull sued the bank for damages, claiming that the bank was liable for the wrongful acts of its officers. The Supreme Court held that the bank was not liable for the wrongful acts of its officers. The Court reasoned that the bank was not responsible for the acts of its officers, as the officers were acting in their individual capacities and not on behalf of the bank. The Court further held that the bank was not liable for the wrongful acts of its officers because the bank had no knowledge of the wrongful acts and had not authorized them. The Court concluded that the bank was not liable for the wrongful acts of its officers and dismissed the case. This decision established that banks are not liable for the wrongful acts of their officers, unless the bank had knowledge of the wrongful acts and had authorized them.

Justice Field delivered the dissenting opinion in Bull v. Bank of Kasson, arguing that the majority's decision was incorrect and should be reversed. He argued that a state statute could not supersede or modify an existing contract between two parties unless it was clear from its language that this is what it intended to do. In this case, he found no such indication in the Minnesota statute at issue; instead, he argued that its purpose was merely to provide for payment of debts due by insolvent banks after their dissolution rather than to alter any preexisting contracts they had entered into with third parties prior to their dissolution. Justice Field concluded his dissent by noting that if states were allowed to pass statutes which modified existing contracts without explicitly stating so, then creditors would have little incentive or protection when entering into agreements with corporations since those agreements could be altered without warning at any time through subsequent legislation passed by a state legislature.