In Lathrop, Assignee v. Drake et al., the Supreme Court of the United States was asked to decide whether a contract between two parties was valid and enforceable. The contract in question was between a creditor, Lathrop, and two debtors, Drake and another. The contract stated that the debtors would pay the creditor a certain amount of money in exchange for the creditor releasing them from their debt. The debtors failed to make the payments as agreed, and the creditor sued them for breach of contract. The Supreme Court held that the contract was valid and enforceable. The Court noted that the contract was clear and unambiguous, and that the parties had agreed to its terms. The Court also noted that the debtors had received a benefit from the contract, and that they had failed to fulfill their obligations under it. Therefore, the Court held that the creditor was entitled to recover the amount of money that the debtors had agreed to pay. In conclusion, the Supreme Court held that the contract between Lathrop and Drake et al. was valid and enforceable, and that the creditor was entitled to recover the amount of money that the debtors had agreed to pay.

The dissenting opinion in Lathrop v. Drake et al. was delivered by Justice Field, who argued that the court should have found for the defendants on all counts and dismissed the plaintiff's suit. He reasoned that a contract between two parties must be clear and unambiguous to be enforceable, but in this case there were multiple interpretations of what had been agreed upon due to its lack of specificity. Furthermore, he noted that even if it could be assumed that an agreement existed between them, it would still not constitute a valid contract because one party had failed to fulfill their obligations as outlined within it; thus making any such agreement voidable at law. Finally, Justice Field concluded his dissent by noting how both sides had acted with good faith throughout proceedings and so neither deserved punishment or recompense from each other - instead they should simply part ways without further ado.