In the case of John M'Kinney, William M'Connell and Kay Moss v. John Carroll, the plaintiffs in error argued that they had been wrongfully evicted from a property owned by Carroll. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Carroll on the grounds that he was within his rights to evict them as their tenancy was based on an oral agreement which did not include any specific duration or terms for renewal. Furthermore, it was determined that even if there had been such an agreement between parties, it would have been invalid due to its lack of consideration and writing requirements under state law at the time. Ultimately, this decision set a precedent for future cases involving verbal agreements regarding real estate leases without written contracts or other forms of legal documentation.

In the case of John M'Kinney, William M'Connell and Kay Moss v. John Carroll, the dissenting opinion argued that a contract between two parties should be enforced even if it was made with an individual who had no authority to make such a contract on behalf of another party. The majority opinion held that because one of the contracting parties did not have legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement, then any subsequent contracts were voidable at will by either party. However, in this particular case there was evidence presented which showed that both sides intended for their agreement to be legally binding and enforceable despite one side lacking legal capacity. Therefore, according to the dissenters it would be unjust for either party to avoid responsibility under such circumstances as they had acted in good faith when entering into their contractual arrangement.