In the case of Samuel Pearce v. The Madison and Indianapolis Railroad Company and The Peru and Indianapolis Railroad Company, Pearce brought a suit against both companies for damages resulting from an accident he was involved in while riding on one of their trains. He alleged that the railroad companies were negligent in failing to provide him with safe passage due to their failure to maintain proper safety standards on the train cars. In response, the defendants argued that they had no control over what happened during his journey as it was outside of their jurisdiction. Ultimately, however, after considering all evidence presented by both parties, the court found in favor of Pearce ruling that he should be compensated for his injuries sustained during this incident as a result of negligence by both railroads.

In the case of Samuel Pearce v. The Madison and Indianapolis Railroad Company and The Peru and Indianapolis Railroad Company, Justice McLean wrote a dissenting opinion in which he argued that the plaintiff should have been allowed to recover damages for his injury. He reasoned that since it was foreseeable that passengers would be injured if trains were operated at excessive speeds, the railroad companies had a duty to ensure their safety by operating them at reasonable speeds. Furthermore, he noted that there was no evidence presented during trial showing any negligence on behalf of Pearce himself or any other party involved in this incident; thus, it could not be said with certainty whether or not an act of negligence caused his injuries. Therefore, Justice McLean concluded that Pearce should have been awarded damages as compensation for his suffering due to being injured while riding on one of these railroads' trains.