Arthur Morgan Foley brought a case against Samuel T. Harrison and Louis Lesassier to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1853. The dispute was over an unpaid debt that had been assigned by one party to another, with Foley claiming he was owed money from both parties for goods sold and delivered. The court found that although there were some discrepancies between what each party claimed they were owed, it did not affect their decision as all claims had already been paid off prior to the assignment being made. As such, they ruled in favor of Harrison and Lesassier on grounds that no further payment was due from either party since all debts had already been settled before the assignment took place.

In this case, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a contract between two parties should be enforced. The plaintiff had entered into an agreement with the defendant in which he agreed to pay $1,000 for certain land and improvements made by the defendant. However, when it came time for payment, the plaintiff refused to do so on grounds that he believed there were defects in title of the property. The lower court found in favor of the defendant and ordered payment of $1,000 plus interest from date due until paid. On appeal however, Justice McLean dissented from majority opinion arguing that while contracts must generally be enforced according to their terms as written; here there were sufficient facts presented indicating fraud or mistake which would render enforcement unjust under these circumstances. He argued that if such evidence could be established then equity required relief against performance of contract obligations and thus judgment should have been rendered for plaintiff instead