Hunt Foods, Inc., a Corporation v. Wellington Phillips and H. W. Liholm

In this diversity case, appellees Wellington Phillips and H. W. Liholm, partners doing business under the name of Wellington Phillips & Co., seek damages for breach of contract. In 1951 appellees were engaged in the business of bidding for sales of canned goods and other products to military purchasing offices in California. Appellee Phillips was the chief moving force behind the partnership, having had some twenty-five years experience in various aspects of the grocery and canned food business. The appellees’ bidding business in 1951,. although fairly new, was profitable, and the outlook for the future was bright. Phillips, in August and September, 1951, talked to Mr. Flynn, Hunt Foods’ Sales Manager for the Northern California District, as to the possibility of exclusively handling Hunt’s products in the military commissaries. Various discussions later took place between Phillips, Flynn, Mr. Miller, District Sales Manager for all districts of Hunt Foods, Mr. Reed, Export and Government Supply Manager, and Mr. Church, Credit Manager for Hunt Foods. It was disputed at the trial as to the gist of those •conversations. Phillips had critical discussions with Mr. Flynn, who was…