In the case of James Roach, Administrator of Philip Roach v. David W. Hulings, the Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a contract between two parties could be enforced when it had been made without consideration and in violation of an existing law. The plaintiff argued that he should have been able to enforce the agreement because it was made in good faith and for mutual benefit; however, the defendant argued that since no consideration had been given and since it violated an existing law, there was no legal basis on which to enforce such a contract. Ultimately, after considering both sides’ arguments as well as relevant precedent from other cases involving similar issues, the court ruled against enforcing this particular contract due to its lack of consideration and violation of an existing law.

In this case, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a state court had jurisdiction over an action brought by an administrator of a deceased person's estate. The majority opinion held that the state court did have jurisdiction and affirmed the judgment of the lower court. However, Justice McLean dissented from this decision. He argued that since Philip Roach died before he could bring his claim against Hulings in federal court, it should be dismissed as moot because there is no one left to prosecute it. Furthermore, McLean contended that even if Philip Roach had been alive at the time of filing suit in federal court, then under existing law only courts with exclusive original jurisdiction would have authority over such cases - not state courts which lack such power according to Article III Section 2 of the Constitution. Therefore, Justice McLean concluded that regardless of whether or not Philip Roach was alive when James Roach filed suit on behalf of his estate in state court; either way it should be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction due to its nature as a civil action between citizens from different states and thus falling within exclusive original jurisdiction granted solely to federal courts by Article III Section 2 Clause 1of US Constitution