In Schreiber & Others v. Sharpless, the Supreme Court of the United States was asked to decide whether a contract between two parties was valid and enforceable. The contract in question was between the plaintiffs, Schreiber and others, and the defendant, Sharpless. The plaintiffs had agreed to purchase a tract of land from the defendant, and the defendant had agreed to convey the land to the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs had paid the defendant a portion of the purchase price, but the defendant had failed to convey the land to the plaintiffs. The Supreme Court held that the contract was valid and enforceable. The Court found that the parties had entered into a binding agreement, and that the defendant had breached the contract by failing to convey the land to the plaintiffs. The Court also held that the plaintiffs were entitled to damages for the defendant's breach of contract. The Court ordered the defendant to convey the land to the plaintiffs and to pay the plaintiffs the balance of the purchase price.

In Schreiber & Others v. Sharpless, the Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a state court had jurisdiction to hear an appeal from a decision of the United States Circuit Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The majority opinion held that it did not have such jurisdiction and affirmed the judgment of dismissal by the circuit court. Justice Field dissented, arguing that under Article III Section 2 Clause 2 of the Constitution, Congress has granted state courts concurrent jurisdiction in cases arising under federal law where there is no exclusive provision made for appeals to be heard only by federal courts. He argued further that since no such exclusive provision existed here, then it followed logically that Congress intended for states to have concurrent appellate authority over decisions rendered by lower federal courts in certain circumstances like this one.