Knight

Plaintiffs have brought this action to recover for legal services, and, judgment going against them, have appealed to this court. They rely upon an alleged oral contract of hiring. As a defense the defendant set out an agreement in writing, which is in the following language:

The aforesaid agreement was not denied by affidavit, as provided in section 448 of the Code of Civil Procedure; therefore its genuineness and due execution must he deemed admitted for all the purposes of the trial. (Moore v. Copp, 119 Cal. 429 .)

Simpson was a member of the legal firm of Knight, Simpson & Harpham for a year immediately prior to April 1, 1895, hut it is now claimed by plaintiffs that this firm was dissolved upon said April 1st, and that, therefore, Simpson bad no authority to hind them by the contract he entered into in behalf of the *200 firm with defendant. It is somewhat strange that a member of the bar should enter into a contract purporting to bind a firm of which he had been a member, and which had been in existence at a very recent date, if the firm was not in existence at the time the contract was made. This fact alone might be deemed sufficient to create a conflict in the evidence…