Chris Pine’s Neighbor Demands Actor Show Up to Trial in Person to Face Off in Tree War

Chris Pine’s neighbor asked that the actor personally appear at the upcoming trial where they’ll duke it out in their dueling lawsuits, In Touch can exclusively report.

According to court documents obtained by In Touch, Helen Yu, a well-known entertainment lawyer, filed a “notice to appear” ahead of the scheduled November 18 trial.

Helen requested that Chris, 44, and his co-defendant, Bradley Lyon, show up at court at 9:30 a.m. on the date in question. Chris has yet to respond to Helen’s notice.

As In Touch first reported, Helen sued Chris for trespass, nuisance and negligence in 2023. She explained that her home shares a boundary with the entertainer’s three-bedroom, three-bathroom, 2,205 square-foot home.

Chris purchased his home in 2010. In court documents, Helen claimed she had issues with Chris’ decision to plant numerous Ficus Benjamina trees. She said the trees, which are “known to have extremely invasive root systems,” had caused damage to her home.

Helen’s lawyer said, “Through action or inaction, [Chris has] unreasonably, negligently, or intentionally caused or allowed the root systems of [his trees] which were planted on the boundary line between the properties and encroach upon [Helen’s home], causing substantial and ongoing damage to the [Helen’s home], including cracking of walls and substantial damages to the plumbing and pipes, pool, pool deck, and other areas of in or around [Helen’s home], creating an unreasonably unsafe condition, and interfering with [Helen’s] use and enjoyment of [her] property.” Helen asked the court to award her unspecified damages.

In response, Chris denied all allegations of wrongdoing. He filed a countersuit against his neighbor, claiming a fence she installed was on his property line.

The actor’s lawsuit demanded Helen move her fence.

Helen’s lawyer demanded Chris’ suit be tossed.

“The hardship that [Helen] would suffer if forced to removed improvements from the disputed property would be greatly disproportionate to any hardship that [Chris] would suffer if the improvements are permitted to remain,” Helen’s attorney said.

As In Touch first reported, the legal battle has become extremely contentious in the past couple of months.

Earlier this month, a judge ordered Chris to appear for a deposition within 20 days. The order said the actor could appear via Zoom. The decision came after Helen accused Chris of using various excuses to delay being deposed.

Helen claimed she had been trying to lock down a date for Chris to be deposed since January 2023.

Helen said Chris’ team told her in July that the actor would be filming a movie and then out of the country on vacation until October. Helen said she scheduled a deposition for October 2, but Chris’ team asked for another continuance. In her filing, Helen explained she needed Chris’ testimony to prepare her case for the trial.

However, she said Chris’ team asked for another continuance. Helen said she needed to depose him before the trial in November. “Either [Chris] does not want to be deposed, or his counsel is attempting to get around the trial court’s ruling denying his most recent application to continue the trial by refusing to cooperate in scheduling [Chris’] deposition and enabling discovery to be completed. In either case, the behavior is unacceptable,” Helen’s lawyer argued.

Chris asked the court to shut down Helen’s request.

He claimed motion was “unnecessary.” The actor’s lawyer said Chris never refused to be deposed and was attempting to find a suitable date. Chris claimed he traveled extensively due to his career and was not giving Helen the run-around on purpose.

The judge denied Chris’ plea and told him to appear for a deposition by the end of the month.