Ekwall

Plaintiff sued for damages for personal injuries arising out of an automobile accident. The cause was tried before a jury, which returned a verdict in the sum of $18,000. From the judgment on the verdict the defendants appeal upon typewritten transcripts.

The complaint alleged that the injuries were due to the negligence of the defendant Marks, who was at the time of the collision a salesman in the employ of the Los Angeles Hat Company. An answer was filed, verified by the defendant Marks, in which this allegation was not denied. On the morning of the trial the defendants, having procured new counsel to represent them, moved the court for leave to amend the answer for the purpose of denying this allegation. The motion for leave to amend was denied and the cause went to trial before the jury on the original pleadings. The claim of the Los Angeles Hat Company was that, although the defendant Marks was a salesman in its employ, he was also engaged by two other concerns, and that at the time of the collision he was in the course of his employment with one of these others. On this theory the defendant Los Angeles Hat Company sought the privilege to urge in its defense that the…