Wittenbrock

was an action by Henry Witte trbrock, as plaintiff, to have a satisfaction of a mortgage *97 set aside and canceled, and to foreclose said mortgage which was executed by the defendant, John A. Parker. Defendants Bithell and Harlow were made defendants, set up mortgages in their favor, which, by the decree of the court, were adjudged valid and subsisting against the defendant, Parker, and the liens thereof prior to the lien of plaintiff's mortgage.

Plaintiff appeals from the decree, and from an order denying a motion for a new trial.

The following facts illustrate the important question in the case: Plaintiff's mortgage was executed May 22, 1885, by the defendant, John A. Parker, upon certain real property in the county of Tehama, to secure the payment of his certain promissory note for six thousand dollars and interest, payable two years after date to the Union Building and Loan Association, or order. The mortgage was duly recorded May 23, 1885.

L. S. Taylor and S. Solon Holl were attorneys at law and copartners under the firm name of “ Taylor and Holl,” and engaged as such firm in the practice of law in all its various branches, including the examination of land titles, giving…