Leather Manufacturers' Bank v. Merchants' Bank was a Supreme Court case from 1877. The case involved a dispute between two banks over a loan made by the Leather Manufacturers' Bank to a third party. The Merchants' Bank had accepted the loan as security for a debt owed to them by the third party. The Leather Manufacturers' Bank argued that the loan was invalid because it had not been properly authorized by the board of directors. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Leather Manufacturers' Bank, holding that the loan was invalid because it had not been properly authorized. The Court also held that the Merchants' Bank was not entitled to any compensation for the loan, as it had not been properly authorized. This case established the principle that a loan must be properly authorized by the board of directors in order for it to be valid.

In the Supreme Court case of Leather Manufacturers' Bank v. Merchants' Bank, Justice Field delivered a dissenting opinion in which he argued that the majority had failed to consider an important factor in their decision: the fact that both banks were incorporated under different laws and thus should be treated differently. He noted that while it was true that one bank could not sue another for breach of contract without first obtaining permission from its own state legislature, this did not mean they should be held to identical standards when it came to other matters such as collecting debts or enforcing judgments against each other. Instead, he argued, each bank's rights and obligations must be determined according to its own charter and applicable law rather than by any general rule established by courts or legislatures. In conclusion, Justice Field believed the majority had erred in applying a single standard across all cases involving two separate corporations regardless of their respective charters or legal frameworks.