This Supreme Court case involved a dispute between Reily, the appellant, and Lamar, Beall, and Smith (the appellees). The issue was whether or not an agreement made by Reily to pay for goods purchased from the appellees was binding. The court found that although there had been no formal contract in writing signed by both parties as required under Louisiana law at the time of this case, it could be inferred from their actions that they had entered into a verbal agreement. As such, the court held that Reily must fulfill his obligation to pay for these goods according to their original agreement. This decision established precedent regarding oral contracts in Louisiana which still stands today - if two parties agree upon something verbally but do not sign any written documents then they are still bound by what has been agreed upon orally.

In Reily v. Lamar, Beall and Smith, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a contract between two parties could be enforced when one of the parties had died before it was fully executed. The majority opinion held that since the contract had not been completed prior to death, it should not be enforceable in court. However, Justice Johnson wrote a dissenting opinion arguing that contracts are binding even if they have not been completely performed at the time of death. He argued that this would encourage people to enter into contracts with confidence knowing their rights will still be protected after their passing and prevent any potential fraud or abuse from occurring due to incomplete agreements being left behind by deceased individuals. Furthermore, he noted that allowing such contracts would also benefit creditors who may otherwise suffer losses due to an individual's untimely demise without having received payment for goods or services provided under an agreement made prior to death but never fulfilled afterwards.