Campbell

This is an appeal by the defendants from a judgment for $25,000 against them in an action brought by the plaintiff, as assignee of the law firm of Met-son, Drew & Mackenzie, to recover from the defendants the reasonable value of legal services alleged to have been rendered by said firm to the defendants at their request.

According to the testimony which appears in the record in support of the verdict, the defendant Hanford called at the office of the law firm of Metson, Drew & Mackenzie in San Francisco and stated to Mr. Metson that he was representing himself and each and all of the defendants, all of whom were interested, in a greater or less degree, in the legal problems and entanglements upon which he sought advice and legal action. The amount of property involved in the various transactions from which relief was sought was something over twelve millions of dollars and it became necessary for the law firm to examine and study a great number of documents which had resulted in the situation then existing.

Mr. Metson testified that after Mr. Hanford had explained, in outline, the difficulties in which the affairs of the defendants were involved, Mr. Metson told him that the…