WINDHAM v. AMERICAN BRANDS, INC.

No. 75-2315.

565 F.2d 59 (1977)

Roy P. WINDHAM, Harden Evans, Joe Skipper, David Nexsen, W. A. Turner and Toby Gaskins, Appellants, v. AMERICAN BRANDS, INC., Liggett & Myers, Inc., R. J. Reynolds, Inc. (R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.), Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation, The Imperial Tobacco Company (of Great Britain and Ireland) Ltd., Mullins Leaf Tobacco Company, Inc., C. W. Walters Company, Inc., Export Leaf Tobacco Company, Loews Theaters, Inc. (d/b/a Lorillard), Philip Morris, Inc., Universal Leaf Tobacco Company, Inc., The Austin Company, Inc. (Greenville, Tenn.), J. P. Taylor Company, Inc., Dibrell Brothers, Inc., and Earl L. Butz, Secretary of Agriculture of the United States, Appellees.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Decided October 11, 1977.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

E. N. Ziegler, Florence, S. C. (H. Page Dees, Conway, S. C., John A. Cochrane, John E. Thomas, St. Paul, Minn., J. Nat Hamrick, Rutherfordton, N. C., Robert C. Howison, Jr., Raleigh, N. C., and Frank M. Wooten, Jr., Greenville, N. C., on brief), for appellants.

Murray Bring, Washington, D. C. (Arnold & Porter, Washington, D. C., Willcox, Hardee, Palmer, O'Farrell, McLeod & Buyck, Florence, S. C., on brief), for appellee Philip Morris, Inc.

Robinson, McFadden, Moore & Pope, Columbia, S. C. (Davis, Polk & Wardwell, New York City, on brief), for appellee R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

Henry B. Smythe, Buist, Moore, Smythe & McGee, Charleston, S. C., Paul G. Pennoyer, Jr., Chester J. Hinshaw, Chadbourne, Parke, Whiteside & Wolff, New York City, on brief, for American Brands, Inc.

Richard E. Richards, Richards, Caskey & Richards, Lancaster, S. C., N. R. Coleman, Jr., Milligan, Coleman, Fletcher & Gaby, Greenville, Tenn., on brief, for The Austin Co., Inc. and Mullins Leaf Tobacco Co., Inc.

E. LeRoy Nettles, Nettles, Thomy, Floyd & Smith, Lake City, S. C., Norwood Robinson, Hudson, Petree, Stockton, Stockton & Robinson, Winston-Salem, N. C., on brief, for Brown and Williamson Tobacco Corp. and Export Leaf Tobacco Co.

Jack Nettles, McGowan, Nettles, Keller & Eaton, Florence, S. C., Howard Alder, Jr. and Larry D. Sharp, Bergson, Borkland, Margolis & Adler, Washington, D. C., on brief, for Dibrell Brothers Inc. and C. W. Walters Co., Inc.

D. Laurence McIntosh, Wright, Scott, Blackwell & Powers, Florence, S. C., Tommy W. Jarrett, Dees, Dees, Smith, Powell & Jarrett, Goldsboro, N. C., William R. Glendon, Guy C. Quinlan, Rogers & Wells, New York City, on brief, for Gallaher Limited.

C. Weston Houck, Florence, S. C., Z. Hardy Rose, Lucas, Rand, Rose, Meyer, Jones & Orcutt, Wilson, N. C., Fred D. Turnage, Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, Washington, D. C., on brief, for Imperial Group Limited.

John W. Thomas, Roberts, Jennings & Thomas, Columbia, S. C., George R. Humrickhouse, John O. Peters, Samuel W. Hixon, III, Williams, Mullen & Christian, Richmond, Va., on brief, for J. P. Taylor Co. Inc., Universal Leaf Tobacco Co., Inc.

Joseph O. Rogers, Jr., Rogers, Riggs & Rickenbaker, Manning, S. C., on brief, for Liggett & Myers, Inc.

Douglas McKay, Jr., McKay, Sherrill, Walker, Townsend & Wilkins, Columbia, S. C., Joseph W. Gelb and H. Adam Prussin, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, New York City, on brief, for Loews Theaters, Inc.

Raymond W. Fullerton, Atty., U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. (James D. Keast, Gen. Counsel, J. Michael Kelly, Harold Carter, Asst. Gen. Counsels, John C. Chernauskas, Director Marketing Div., Edward M. Silverstein, Atty., Marketing Div., U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., Mark W. Buyck, Jr., U. S. Atty., Wm. Reynolds Williams, Asst. U. S. Atty., Columbia, S. C., on brief), for appellee Secretary of Agriculture of the United States.

Before HAYNSWORTH, Chief Judge, BRYAN, Senior Circuit Judge, and CRAVEN, BUTZNER, RUSSELL, WIDENER and HALL, Circuit Judges, en banc.


DONALD RUSSELL, Circuit Judge:

This is an interlocutory appeal, pursuant to Rule 54(b), Fed.R.Civ.P., from an order denying class certification under Rule 23(b)(3), Fed.R.Civ.P., in a private action brought by certain South Carolina tobacco growers, who allege that the defendant tobacco companies and the Secretary of Agriculture violated Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act1 during the years 1970 through 1974.

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