Chris Pine Has Only 20 Days To Attend To Deposition In Trespass Lawsuit

The verdict is in, and Chris Pine won't be able to escape sitting down for a deposition in his case against a neighbor.

A judge recently ordered the Hollywood heartthrob to be deposed within the next two weeks after he was accused of using delay tactics. The drama began over a trespass lawsuit filed by entertainment lawyer Helen Yu.

Helen Yu, who is Chris Pine's neighbor, slammed him for growing trees that trespassed beyond his side of the property line and caused severe damage to her home. However, he fired back with a countersuit, claiming she crossed the line first.

According to new reports, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled in Yu's favor by ordering Pine to appear for a deposition within the next 20 days. The legal documents noted the actor had until October 25 and could even appear virtually.

However, the judge stressed that Pine could only attend via Zoom if he produced all the documents requested by Yu. The ruling came days after his neighbor petitioned the court to order him to be disposed before their November trial.

Yu argued that the TV personality and his legal team had given her the slip numerous times, refusing to schedule a deposition date. She claimed her attempts to get Pine deposed began in January 2023 to no avail.

The entertainment lawyer claimed she served four separate notices, but Pine refused to appear. In July, her request was rejected because the actor would allegedly be busy filming a movie and on vacation until October, per In Touch.

In her motion, Yu noted that she set a deposition date for October 2 following the information she got from Pine's team. However, the other party asked for a continuance — a plea that did not sit right with the entertainment lawyer. Yu's motion read:

"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."

However, Pine's legal team fired back at her motion to depose him, arguing that the filing was "unnecessary and misleading at best." His lawyer claimed he never refused to be deposed and had been trying to work out dates with Yu, but she was uncooperative.

In September, The Blast reported that Pine and Yu clashed over the actor's motion for a continuance in their case. Yu implored the judge to reject his plea for a new trial date, stressing that he had received three postponements.

According to the entertainment lawyer, their initial trial date was December 4, 2023, but "It was continued to April 2, 2024." A second continuance followed to August 5, 2024, "and it was continued a third time to November 18, 2024."

Yu claimed Pine's motion was a delay tactic, with her argument reading: "Defendants' application to continue the trial date is not well taken and should be denied. It's just a ploy to avoid trial and to avoid addressing the problem that necessitated the filing of this case."

The issues between Pine and Yu began in 2022 when she sued him for trespass, nuisance, and negligence. The entertainment lawyer claimed she suffered damages after the actor installed numerous Ficus Benjamina trees on his property.

According to Yu, their properties shared a boundary, yet Pine, through "action or inaction," allowed the trees to encroach on her home. The Ficus Benjamina species allegedly caused "substantial and ongoing damage," including:

"Cracking of walls and substantial damages to the plumbing and pipes, pool, pool deck, and other areas in or around [Helen's home]."

Yu filed for unspecified damages, stressing that Pine's trees had "created an unreasonably unsafe condition and interfered with [Helen's] use and enjoyment of their property."

However, Pine denied all allegations of wrongdoing and countersued Yu for trespassing first. He claimed he lost significant land when he purchased the 2,205-square-foot home in 2010 because of his neighbor's fence.

Pine argued that Yu's fence was beyond her property line and demanded its removal. However, his neighbor refused to comply, claiming she would suffer more losses from removing the fence than the actor.

Will Chris Pine be able to resolve his differences with his neighbor, or are they heading for a nasty court battle?