SAN FRANCISCO — Doctors dueled in a California courtroom yesterday as a veteran entertainment lawyer, who stands accused of taking $2.4 million in illegal kickbacks for serving as a perennial plaintiff in securities lawsuits, attempted to escape trial on grounds of his ill health.

Seymour Lazar, 79, was charged in a federal indictment last year alleging a long-running fraud orchestrated by one of the nation’s most prolific class action law firms, Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman. The firm and two attorneys who served as named partners there, David Bershad and Steven Schulman, were also named as defendants in the alleged scheme to share legal fees with individuals, such as Mr. Lazar, who agreed to serve as plaintiffs in court cases.

Judge John Walter of Los Angeles heard almost five hours of testimony yesterday, mostly from doctors aligned with either side, an attorney for Mr. Lazar, Thomas Bienert, said. Mr. Lazar took the stand for about 20 minutes to discuss his conditions, the defense lawyer said. The judge did not rule immediately and set another hearing next month, Mr. Bienert said.

Physicians who have treated Mr. Lazar said he is under treatment or monitoring for a litany of ailments, including heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and gout. One doctor warned that a trial could have grim results for the elderly attorney.

“I believe that having to attend his own trial would place Mr. Lazar in a very precarious situation and would present a significant threat to his health,” an internist and kidney specialist from Palm Springs, Calif., W. Lynn Cooper, said in a written statement submitted for yesterday’s hearing. “I am concerned that the physical and emotional stresses of attending trial would aggravate Mr. Lazar’s labile hypertension, causing his blood pressure to spike. … Such spikes in blood pressure increase the risk of cerebral hemorrhage or infarction.”

A doctor who treated Mr. Lazar for lymphoma, Lawrence Leichman, said the defendant may be suffering from “chemobrain,” a term for brain damage due to intensive chemotherapy. “It is possible that Mr. Lazar’s mental condition could make following significant events of the trial impossible,” Dr. Leichman wrote.

A psychologist, William Jones, said Mr. Lazar suffers from major depression, memory loss, and fatigue.

Physicians testifying for the prosecution were more skeptical of claims that Mr. Lazar is seriously ill and that his condition has worsened.

One doctor, Bryan Stone, noted in his pre-hearing statement that only two of 11 blood pressure readings taken during the defendant’s medical visits reflected hypertension.

“The primary physical impediments to Mr. Lazar standing trial appear to be self-reported and subjective in nature,” another physician, David Patterson, wrote.

He conceded that it would be “physically difficult” for Mr. Lazar to attend a trial that ran seven hours a day for 12 weeks. However, Dr. Patterson said Mr. Lazar could withstand a trial that lasted only four hours a day over six or eight weeks.

A psychologist retained by the government, Robert Tomaszewski, said the defense’s evaluations of Mr. Lazar overlooked his obvious motivation to exaggerate his health woes. “It is plain that Mr. Lazar has incentives in the area of symptom magnification or malingering that must be considered,” Mr. Tomaszewski wrote.

Technically, lawyers for Mr. Lazar have not asked Judge Walter to declare Mr. Lazar unfit for trial. Rather, the defense has asserted that prosecutors violated Mr. Lazar’s rights by delaying his trial as his medical condition deteriorated.

“One big issue is what the judge decides is the proper inquiry,” Mr. Bienert said.

Mr. Lazar was first indicted in June 2005. Milberg Weiss was alluded to in those charges but not named as a defendant until a superseding indictment was handed up in May 2006. A trial is presently set for January 2008, more than 2 1/2 years after Mr. Lazar was first charged.

All the defendants have pleaded not guilty. Mr. Bershad has taken a leave of absence from Milberg Weiss, which effectively split into two separate firms in 2004. Mr. Schulman took leave after his indictment and left the practice in December.