In the case of Texas & Pacific Railway Company v. Harvey, 1912, the U.S Supreme Court was tasked with determining whether a state court had jurisdiction over an out-of-state railway company in a personal injury lawsuit. The plaintiff, Harvey, was injured while working for the railway company in Louisiana but filed his suit in Texas where he resided. The defendant argued that since they were incorporated and primarily operated outside of Texas, the local courts did not have jurisdiction to hear this case. The Supreme Court ruled against the railway company stating that by operating trains through Texas regularly as part of its business operations and maintaining offices within the state for ticket sales and freight transactions; it had established sufficient contacts within Texas to be subject to its laws. Therefore, even though their primary place of operation was elsewhere (Louisiana), they could still be sued under Texan law because they conducted substantial business there. This ruling set an important precedent regarding how states can exercise jurisdiction over corporations conducting significant activities within their borders even if those companies are based elsewhere.

In the dissenting opinion for Texas & Pacific Railway Company v. Harvey, 1912, it was argued that the court majority erred in its interpretation of the law and application to this case. The dissent held that there were significant factual differences between this case and previous cases cited by the majority as precedent. Specifically, they disagreed with how negligence was determined and believed that more weight should have been given to evidence presented by Harvey's side during trial proceedings. They also contended that certain instructions given to jury members were misleading or incorrect which could have influenced their decision unfairly against Harvey. Furthermore, they criticized what they saw as an overly broad interpretation of federal laws related to railway safety standards by the majority justices which resulted in a ruling favoring Texas & Pacific Railway Company.