Airport Noise Foes Give Their Lawyer the Third Degree : Lindbergh Field: It could have been a scene from “Bonanza,” except that no one had a rope. Opposition by the 1,500 citizen plaintiffs to a proposed settlement means the lawsuit now moves to trial.

It wasn’t an episode from “L.A. Law,” but it could have been: The disgruntled judge is told that more than a thousand people from Point Loma are unhappy about a proposed settlement of their airport noise lawsuit, which they never consented to and which pays their out-of-town lawyer $50,000, so the judge excuses himself from the courtroom to let the attorney and the people talk.

For the next half an hour, lawyer John Schimmenti of El Segundo stands in the center of the large courtroom as dozens of his clients fire away with angry questions. Why do you deserve $50,000? Why didn’t you return our phone calls? Why didn’t you tell us about the settlement?

“This is so pathetic . . . (and) such a scummy way to do business,” charges one of the clients, Pat Rickon.

Schimmenti tries to explain. Yes, he says, some mistakes were made. The law has changed, he says. “Use the microphone, we can’t hear you!” yells an elderly woman, one of many in the audience. The lawyer offers to divide the $50,000 with the people. The courtroom erupts in derisive laughter.

“You’re fired!” shouts a man in the back. Some of the clients, themselves lawyers, quiz Schimmenti as if he were on the witness stand.

Some of the marshals and law clerks, onlookers to the inquisition, grin nervously and whisper. It could be a scene from “Bonanza,” except no one has a rope.

Finally, it’s over. Schimmenti tells U.S. District Judge J. Lawrence Irving that “a substantial number” of his clients don’t want to settle with the San Diego Unified Port District, the agency that runs Lindbergh Field and which the estimated 1,500 residents sued because of jet noise at the busy airport.

Irving, who earlier had explained that he was inundated with phone calls, letters and a personal visit from residents since December, when the proposed settlement became public, tells Schimmenti, “I had no intention of approving this settlement” because of the dissatisfaction.

So the the lawsuit--technically 11 lawsuits filed against the Port District involving 780 parcels of property--moves forward to a trial, probably this summer.

Irving says he will give the residents 90 days, until April 27, to decide how they want to proceed. He orders Schimmenti to document his billing to the court by providing time sheets.

The judge also calls on Schimmenti and the lawyer for the Port District, Michael Gatzke, to contact all the residents who were named in the lawsuit and notify them of the new developments, and to ask whether they want to remain as plaintiffs.

Afterward, a somewhat chagrined Schimmenti, acknowledging he has never seen or participated in a similar scene, says he assumes he will remain the lawyer for the residents. But many in the lobby say they intend to hire someone new to represent them.

“I don’t see how we can keep him. We’re not going to court with him,” says John Turner, a plaintiff and a lawyer himself. Turner says some leaders of the residents, many of whom are members of the Airport Coalition, a group that has long waged a battle over airport noise, have already begun discussions with San Diego attorneys who might take the case.

Nancy Palmtag, a plaintiff and spokeswoman for the Airport Coalition, praises Irving and says: “He really understood what was happening to us and took care of it in a responsible way. We couldn’t have asked for more.”

Palmtag says the issue isn’t about money or damage awards the residents could potentially receive. Instead, she says, it’s about moving Lindbergh Field. The controversy over the proposed settlement and news that the Port District intends to improve Lindbergh Field to accommodate more passengers has rejuvenated many in Point Loma to fight against the airport in court, she said.

According to the terms of the proposed settlement, first offered to Schimmenti by the Port District, the Point Loma homeowners would not have received money damages from the Port District. But the agency would have paid the residents’ legal fees, up to $50,000. In addition, some of the residents were free to refile their lawsuit by 1994 with a different attorney. But many people at Thursday’s hearing say they were excluded from refiling because they had not answered letters sent by Schimmenti, letters many said they never received.

At the end of Thursday’s hearing, an elderly woman makes her way to the railing separating the audience from the lawyers and judge. “Thank you very much, judge,” she calls out to Irving, as he walks to his chambers. “You’re welcome,” he replies.