Cole v. La Grange is a United States Supreme Court case that was decided in 1885. The case involved a dispute between two parties over the ownership of a piece of land in the state of Georgia. The plaintiff, Cole, claimed that he had purchased the land from the defendant, La Grange, and that La Grange had failed to deliver the deed to the property. La Grange argued that the deed had been delivered and that Cole had failed to pay for the land. The Supreme Court held that Cole had a valid claim to the land and that La Grange had failed to deliver the deed. The Court found that La Grange had breached his contract with Cole and was liable for damages. The Court also held that Cole was entitled to a deed to the property and that La Grange was obligated to deliver it. The decision in Cole v. La Grange established that a party who fails to deliver a deed to a piece of property is liable for damages and must deliver the deed to the purchaser. This case is an important precedent in contract law and has been cited in numerous other cases.

Justice Field delivered the dissenting opinion in Cole v. La Grange, arguing that the majority's decision was contrary to both law and justice. He argued that under Illinois law, a contract for personal services could not be assigned without consent of all parties involved, and thus the assignment of William Cole's contract with La Grange was invalid. Furthermore, he noted that even if it had been validly assigned to another party (as the majority held), this would still not entitle them to recover damages from La Grange since they were never actually employed by him or performed any service on his behalf. Finally, Justice Field pointed out that there was no evidence presented at trial which showed any actual damage suffered by either party as a result of this transaction; therefore awarding damages in such circumstances would be unjustified and improper according to established legal precedent.