LAS VEGAS -- Attorneys had to break up a brawl between two feuding families in front of the federal courthouse Monday.

The adoptive and biological families of Everlyse Cabrera got into a melee over the missing toddler before their hearing.

Both families were in court to remove their attorneys from the case when the fight occurred.

"I can understand someone being upset," Brent Bryson, the attorney for the foster family, said. "I'd be upset also. But when you start really trying to hurt somebody -- I believe that's what was happening -- then there's a problem."

The ire stems from the toddler's disappearance in late 2006. Manuel and Vilma Carrascal, Everlyse's foster parents, said the girl walked away from their home in the middle of the night and never returned. They have been in a legal battle with her biological parents ever since.

The families were headed into court as part of their continual fight when Everlyse's biological parents threatened the Carrascals, Bryson said.

"(He said) 'You're going to burn in hell,'" Bryson said. "Then Ernesto (Cabrera's father) became physically aggressive toward Manuel Carrascal. He started hitting him about the head and torso."

Both attorneys said they understand why emotions run high in this case, especially for the Cabrera's biological parents.

"It's sad because I don't know what that's going to do to their case," the biological family's attorney David Gibson Jr. said. "They already had an uphill battle with public perception. Their child was in foster care. To go and do something like this was extremely ill-advised."

On Monday, Gibson officially withdrew his services as their counsel. He said communication issues made it impossible to remain their attorney, but his law firm will continue to represent the toddler in the case against the county.

"We're very hopeful that that investigation is going to turn up something about Everlyse's whereabouts," he said. "From the first day, this was about trying to find Everlyse Cabrera, and if we couldn't find her, then making the county pay for their mistakes."

After the fracas, Bryson and the Carrascals are seeking a restraining order against the biological family.

The next hearing is set for April 7. That's when all parties will declare their new attorneys.