In the case of Francis Selden v. Lawrence Myers, Philip Pike, Walter Lenox and James C. McGuire, Selden appealed to the Supreme Court in order to recover damages for a breach of contract. The contract was between himself and the defendants who had agreed to pay him $2,000 for his services as an attorney in a certain cause that he had undertaken on their behalf. However, after performing his duties according to the agreement they refused or neglected to pay him what was due under it. The Supreme Court held that since there was no dispute about either party’s performance under the contract or its terms then Selden should be allowed recovery of damages from them as per their agreement with him at law rather than equity which would have been more costly and time consuming for both parties involved given all other circumstances were equal.

In this case, Francis Selden appealed to the Supreme Court after a lower court ruled in favor of Lawrence Myers, Philip Pike, Walter Lenox and James C. McGuire. At issue was whether or not an agreement between Selden and the defendants had been breached by them when they sold certain real estate without his consent. The majority opinion held that since there was no written contract between the parties involved, it could not be enforced against them as per New York law at that time. However, Justice Nelson dissented from this ruling on two grounds: firstly he argued that even though there was no written contract present here; verbal agreements were still binding under New York law at the time; secondly he maintained that if such an agreement did exist then it should have been enforced regardless of any state laws which may have prohibited its enforcement due to lack of writing. In conclusion Justice Nelson believed that Selden's appeal should have been granted and thus reversed the decision made by the lower court in favor of Myers et al..