In Lewis & Queen v. N.M. Ball Sons (1957) 48 Cal. 2d 141, the contractor hired the subcontractor to do an entire state construction project, contrary to state requirements that the contractor itself perform half the work, then refused to pay the subcontractor for some of the work. ( Id. at p. 145.) The action in Lewis & Queen was one to "enforce directly an illegal contract, not merely to obtain an accounting for profits arising from one." ( Id. at p. 152.)