Chris Pine and his neighbor, with whom he has been involved in a month-long dispute, informed the court that they had settled just days before the trial, a new report claimed.
In Touch Weekly obtained court documents that indicate that attorneys for Chris, 44, and his neighbor, Helen Yu, informed the judge overseeing the case that they had "resolved this matter in principle."
The parties must now conclude and submit a settlement agreement to the court. The magistrate did not vacate the trial scheduled for November 18. The court scheduled a hearing a few days before the trial to verify that a settlement had been executed and that a trial was no longer necessary.
Helen, a distinguished entertainment attorney, filed a lawsuit against Chris and his co-defendant, Bradley Lyon, in 2023 for negligence, nuisance, and trespass.
Helen's Los Angeles residence is adjacent to Chris's 2,205-square-foot, three-bedroom, three-bathroom residence, which Chris acquired in 2010, as per PopCulture.
Helen claimed in her lawsuit that the actor planted numerous Ficus Benjamina trees, which are "known to have extremely invasive root systems." She stated that the trees had inflicted significant damage on her residence.
Chris has 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, to cause substantial and ongoing damage to Helen's house, including cracking of walls and significant 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, according to the attorney for Helen.
Chris's actions or inactions have caused or allowed the root systems of his trees to encroach upon Helen's home due to his actions or inactions.
Chris was required to pay Helen unspecified damages subject to her lawsuit. He responded by filing a countersuit against Helen and denying all allegations of wrongdoing. He claimed that Helen constructed a fence situated on his property line. Helen was compelled to push the fence back to comply with his suit. Helen rejected all allegations of misconduct.
According to the statement made by Helen's counsel, the difficulties that Chris would experience if the renovations were allowed to remain on the contested land would be significantly less severe than the difficulties that Helen would experience if she were forced to remove the modifications from the property of the dispute, The Blast reported. The case quickly turned into an unsightly state.
Helen recently accused Chris of employing excuses to postpone his removal. She stated that Chris' attorneys informed her in July that the actor would be occupied with filming a film and on vacation outside of the country until October. Helen claimed that she attempted to arrange his deposition for October 2, but Chris' team continued to object.
According to the statement made by Helen's attorney, either Chris does not wish to be deposed, or his attorney is seeking to circumvent the decision of the trial court that denied his most recent request to continue the trial by refusing to assist in arranging Chris' deposition and allowing discovery to be completed.
The magistrate eventually asked Chris to be interviewed by the end of the month. Helen also insisted that Chris attend the trial in person before the recent agreement to resolve the case was reached.
The parties have not yet submitted an executed settlement agreement.
