John A. Rowan and John L. Harris, copartners in trade under the name and style of Rowan and Harris, were plaintiffs in error against Hiram G. Runnels who was defendant in error. The case involved a dispute over an unpaid debt for goods sold by the plaintiff to the defendant which had been secured by a promissory note signed by Runnels as well as two other individuals who had since died or become insolvent leaving no means of repayment to the plaintiffs from them directly. The Supreme Court held that when multiple parties are jointly liable on a contract, their liability is joint and several so that if one party cannot pay due to death or insolvency then all remaining parties must be responsible for paying off any outstanding debts owed on it regardless of how much each individual owes individually; thus making Runnels solely responsible for repaying this debt even though he did not owe more than his share originally agreed upon with those now deceased or insolvent signatories on the original promissory note agreement between him and them at its inception.

In the case of Rowan and Harris v. Runnels, the dissenting opinion argued that a contract between two parties should be enforced even if it is not in writing. The majority opinion held that an oral agreement was unenforceable because it did not meet the requirements of a Statute of Frauds, which requires certain contracts to be in writing. However, Justice McLean disagreed with this ruling and argued that when there is evidence proving mutual assent between two parties on an oral agreement then it should still be enforceable despite its lack of written form. He believed that any other interpretation would lead to injustice as one party could easily deny their involvement or breach their obligations without consequence due to lack of proof from a written document. Therefore he concluded by stating his belief that verbal agreements are binding under law so long as they can be proven through sufficient evidence such as testimony from witnesses or circumstantial facts indicating both parties had agreed upon terms for said contract prior to performance being rendered by either side.