The Louisville Manufacturing Company brought a case against Michael Welch in the Supreme Court. The company argued that they had loaned money to Welch and he had failed to pay it back, so they sought damages for breach of contract. However, Welch countered that the agreement was not valid because it lacked consideration from both parties. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of the Louisville Manufacturing Company, finding that there was sufficient consideration given by both parties and thus upholding their claim for damages due to breach of contract. This ruling established an important precedent regarding contracts lacking mutual consideration between two parties; if one party provides something valuable or promises something beneficial then this is considered adequate enough as consideration even when no other benefit is provided by either side.

In the case of The Louisville Manufacturing Company v. Michael Welch, the dissenting opinion argued that a contract between an employer and employee should be considered valid even if it was not in writing. This is because there are certain circumstances where verbal contracts can still be enforced by law, such as when one party has already begun to fulfill their obligations under the agreement or when money has been paid for services rendered. Furthermore, this particular contract had been partially performed before being challenged in court and thus should have been upheld according to established legal precedent. As such, Justice McLean dissented from the majority opinion which held that all contracts must be written down in order to be legally binding.