Townsend v. Columbia Operations

667 F.2d 844 Fed. Sec. L. Rep. P 98,446 Charles E. TOWNSEND, Jr. and Henry L. Pohndorf, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. COLUMBIA OPERATIONS, Columbia Petroleum, Inc., Anton G. Nosek, III, Mindevco, Inc., Chaparral Petroleum, and Ben M. Fitzgerald, Defendants-Appellees. No. 79-4638. United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. Argued and Submitted May 13, 1981. Decided Feb. 8, 1982. 1 Kenneth M. Christison, San Francisco, Cal., for plaintiffs-appellants. 2 Allan I. Shatkin, Gordon, Holstein & Ropers, Inc., San Francisco, Cal., Rauer L. Meyer, Bushkin, Kopelson, Gaims, Gaines & Wolf, Los Angeles, Cal., for defendants-appellees. 3 Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. 4 Before GOODWIN and POOLE, Circuit Judges, and WYATT * , District Judge. WYATT, District Judge: 5 This is an appeal by plaintiffs from a summary judgment for defendants entered on August 24, 1979. We affirm. 1. 6 The action was commenced on May 24, 1978. 7 After various maneuvers and a hearing of motions, a first amended complaint was filed on May 9, 1979. This is the only pleading for plaintiffs now effective, and, for convenience, it will hereafter be referred to…