Supreme Court of the United States, 1799

Reed v. Ingraham

Reed v. Ingraham
Supreme Court of the United States · Decided June 1, 1799
3 U.S. 505; 3 Dall. 505 (United States Reports)

Reed v. Ingraham

Opinion

By the Court

The action is well brought, as it is founded on a contraft, in which the Defendant exprefsly ftipu-fetes, that he will receive the flock from, and pav the price to, *506 Jofepb Boggs, or bis order. On general principles of taw, nock contraéis cannot be regarded as negotiable; but a con-tralor may certainly make himfelf liable as if they werefo i and the maxim, modus et conventio vincunt leges, applies forcibly to the cafe;

With refpeft to the alledged inconvenience, that in the pre-fent form of a ¿lion the Defendant is debarred from the benefit of a fet-off, it would be enough to anfwer, that as this is the confequence of his own a<ft and agreement, he has no reafonable caufe of complaint; But it is alfo obvious, that when the contract was aifigned, and the prefent a£tion was inftituted,. there did not exift between him and Boggs any mutual debt, or demand, which could be the fubj e£t of defalcation, upon the principles of the a£i of Affembly.

VeRdict for the Plaintiff,

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.