Jeschke

This action was brought by an assignee for collection on behalf of attorneys Morton B. Harper and William G. Israel, who will be designated herein as plaintiffs or Attorneys. Defendants are Mrs. W. Howard Lee, also known by her professional name, Hedy Lamarr, or Miss Lamarr; also, two corporations wholly owned by her and respectively named Lamarr Productions, Inc. and Donau, Inc.

Plaintiffs herein had represented Miss Lamarr and her corporations and later had sued them, through an assignee for collection, to recover an unpaid balance for attorneys’ fees. That suit—Withers v. Lamarr et al.—was contested and was *508 pending in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County when on January 16,1959, an agreement of compromise and settlement, bearing date November —, 1958, was executed between the parties. The Lamarr interests were therein “collectively referred to as ‘Lamarr’ ” and their promises were made in that name as if there were an entity of some kind, thus resulting in joint and several obligations on their part.

Plaintiff in the Withers action had $28,000 under attachment, and it was agreed that the attachment be released and the Withers action be dismissed with prejudice. The…