Moving Metal

Moving aluminum with a vacuum sheet lifter at the Vernon plant.

The meeting concluded, Gimbel rushed to consult Coffin about Reliance’s options. Coffin advised Gimbel, “You have no obligation to sell the business—we never did reach a con- summated contract.” A relieved Gimbel directed Coffin to tell Gibson Dunn that the deal was off. Myron Hokin and his attor- neys gracefully retired from the table. Meisner refused to do so, however. Only days after Neilan’s funeral, he sent Gimbel an invoice for the $30,000 that he claimed as commission. Gimbel rejected the invoice outright and notified Meisner by registered air mail. Meisner took Reliance to court, first in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, and then in the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Coffin and his protégé Bob Henigson saw each case through to conclu-

sion in Reliance’s favor. On December 7, 1959, the 9th Circuit finally issued a “very short and sweet opinion,” as Henigson described it, “pointing out all the defects in his case.” But then it was Jack Moore’s turn to sue. That litigation dragged on for three years before Henigson finally won a favorable judgment in August 1962, following a ten-day bench trial. As if this protracted litigation was not enough of a dis- traction, Neilan’s death had left the company in a financial quandary. Neilan’s first wifeMae had died in October 1941, and they had had no natural children. Neilan later married Cath- erine M. “Cora” Neilan, and they did not have any children, either. With no direct heirs, the estate was settled among Cora, Bill Gimbel, and Florence Neilan, his nearest living relatives.

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