Hauenstein v. Lynham was a United States Supreme Court case that dealt with the issue of whether a state court could enforce a contract that was made in another state. The case involved a contract between a man named Hauenstein and a man named Lynham. Hauenstein had agreed to pay Lynham a certain amount of money for a piece of land in Ohio. However, when Hauenstein failed to make the payment, Lynham sued him in a court in Indiana. The Supreme Court held that the Indiana court had no jurisdiction to enforce the contract because it was made in Ohio. The Court reasoned that the contract was made in Ohio and was therefore subject to the laws of Ohio. The Court also noted that the contract was not made in Indiana and therefore the Indiana court had no authority to enforce it. The Court's decision was important because it established the principle that a state court cannot enforce a contract that was made in another state. This principle is still followed today and is an important part of contract law.

In Hauenstein v. Lynham, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a contract between two parties that had been partially performed could be enforced by one of them against the other. The majority opinion held that it could not, as there was no consideration for such an action and thus it would be void under existing law. However, Justice Field dissented from this ruling on the grounds that although there may have been no consideration given in exchange for performance of the contract, its partial execution should still serve as sufficient evidence of mutual assent and therefore render it enforceable. He argued further that if contracts were only binding when fully executed then parties would never enter into any agreement unless they knew with certainty beforehand what their obligations were going to be - something which is often impossible due to changing circumstances or unforeseen events during performance of a contract's terms. Thus he concluded that partial performance should suffice in order for a party to seek enforcement from another who has failed to fulfill their contractual duties