Isaac Bradlie and John Gibbons were the plaintiffs in error in a case against The Maryland Insurance Company. They had taken out an insurance policy with the company, which was then destroyed by fire. When they attempted to collect on their policy, they were denied due to a clause that stated it would be nullified if any of the insured parties made false statements or concealed information when taking out the policy. The plaintiffs argued that this clause was not valid because it violated public policies regarding contracts and frauds; however, after hearing both sides of the argument, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of The Maryland Insurance Company as there was no evidence presented proving otherwise.

In the case of Isaac Bradlie and John Gibbons v. The Maryland Insurance Company, Justice McLean delivered a dissenting opinion in which he argued that the plaintiffs were entitled to recover damages from the defendant for breach of contract. He reasoned that under Maryland law, an insurance company was liable for any losses incurred by its policyholders due to their negligence or failure to perform their contractual obligations. In this case, he found that there had been a clear breach of contract on behalf of the defendant as they had failed to pay out on claims made by two policyholders who suffered significant losses due to fire damage caused by lightning strikes. As such, Justice McLean concluded that it was unjust not to award damages in favor of these individuals and held them accountable for their actions accordingly.