In the case of The Claimants and Owners of the Steamer Louisiana v. Isaac Fisher and Others, Owners of the Schooner George D. Fisher, two vessels collided in a navigable river resulting in damages to both ships. The owners of the steamer sued for damages from those who owned the schooner claiming that they were negligent when navigating their vessel on a foggy day. The lower court found that there was no negligence on behalf of either party as it could not be determined which ship had been at fault due to lack evidence or witnesses present during collision. On appeal, however, Supreme Court reversed this decision finding that since both parties had equal opportunity to avoid collision but failed to do so then each must bear responsibility for their own actions leading up to incident regardless if one was more at fault than other or not; thus making them equally liable for any damage caused by accident.

In this case, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether a steamboat owner could recover damages from an incident in which their vessel collided with a schooner. The majority opinion held that the steamboat owners were not entitled to any compensation because they had failed to prove that the collision was caused by negligence on behalf of the schooner's owners. However, Justice Grier dissented and argued that it should be presumed that both vessels acted negligently unless proven otherwise. He further stated that if either party is found negligent then they should be liable for all damages resulting from such negligence regardless of who was at fault or how much damage each vessel sustained as a result of the collision. Ultimately, Justice Grier concluded that since no evidence had been presented proving one side more negligent than another, both parties should share responsibility for compensating those affected by the accident.