James H. Suydam was the plaintiff in error in a case against William H. Williamson, which went before the United States Supreme Court. The dispute arose from an agreement between Suydam and Williamson for the sale of certain real estate located in New York City. According to their contract, Williamson agreed to pay $10,000 for the property but failed to do so within two years as stipulated by law at that time; instead he paid only $8,500 after three years had passed since signing the agreement. As such, Suydam brought suit against him seeking damages for breach of contract and sought specific performance of their original agreement or alternatively payment of $1,500 plus interest on his behalf due to Williamson's failure to comply with its terms. After reviewing both parties' arguments and evidence presented during trial proceedings below court level ,the Supreme Court ultimately ruled that while it could not compel specific performance because too much time had elapsed since entering into their initial contract ,it did find that Suydam was entitled compensation based on what he would have received if they had complied with its terms . Thus ,Williamson was ordered by court order to pay him an additional sum totaling $1 500 plus interest accrued over those three year period .

Justice Grier wrote the dissenting opinion in this case. He argued that the plaintiff had not been able to prove his claim of ownership over a certain piece of land, and thus should not be granted possession. The plaintiff's argument was based on an alleged agreement between himself and another party, but Justice Grier found that there was no evidence presented to support this agreement. Furthermore, he noted that even if such an agreement did exist it would have been void due to its violation of public policy as established by New York law at the time. In conclusion, Justice Grier stated that since there was insufficient proof for granting possession to either party involved in this dispute, judgment should be rendered against both parties with costs equally divided among them.