Judge Scolds Both Lawyers Involved in Noise Dispute

A judge on Thursday lashed out at two Encino lawyers for using the legal system to fight a neighborhood dispute that began in one attorney’s back-yard basketball court and escalated to a full-blown Superior Court battle.

“You have by your conduct and by your positions as lawyers embarrassed the bar and the judicial system as a whole,” Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Marvin D. Rowen told attorneys Michael P. Rubin and Kenneth R. Schild, who quietly endured the judge’s withering gaze.

“You have subjected the whole system to ridicule and to public scorn and many people and your fellow practitioners . . . would find this kind of conduct intolerable,” Rowen said.

For more than a year, the Encino neighbors have been locked in legal combat over Rubin’s contention that Schild and his children make too much noise playing basketball near Rubin’s bedroom window.

The attorneys have filed a flurry of suits, countersuits and restraining order requests and videotaped each other in an attempt to gather evidence to be used in court. On at least one occasion Rubin sprayed Schild and his son with a garden hose to stop them from playing.

Rowen’s scathing comments came after he granted a request for a restraining order sought by Rubin to restrict the Schild family’s use of the basketball court. Rowen ruled that the Schilds may play only between the hours of 10 a.m. and noon, 2:30 and 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 and 8:30 p.m.

Rowen’s order extends for up to three years a temporary restraining order issued by Van Nuys Superior Court Commissioner David Nisall on June 6. The legal battle, meanwhile, will continue.

Rubin, 36, a North Hollywood personal injury lawyer who is serving as his own attorney in the case, said “the judge is expressing what a lot of people--a lot of attorneys and judges--feel about this case.”

But, he added, “I feel that I have no other alternative.”

Schild, a 47-year-old partner with Century City-based Irell & Manella, one of the largest law firms in Los Angeles, refused to comment on the judge’s statements. Richard DeBodo, one of two attorneys from Schild’s firm who represented him in court, also declined to respond.

Schild’s wife and children, ages 11 and 13, came to court but did not speak.

Rubin’s lawsuit against Schild seeks more than $2 million in assorted damages for injuries to Rubin’s “health, strength and activity.” Schild’s lawsuit seeks general damages. He has said in the past that he filed it to protect his children’s right to play safely in their own back yard.

Rubin has claimed that the noise from the basketball playing has disturbed his naps, kept his wife awake while she was pregnant and reduced the value of his home.

The Schilds claim that the Rubins have harassed them by playing loud rock music and by videotaping their games.

Both attorneys claim that attempts to settle out of court have failed because the other made unreasonable demands.