Law firm at center of rugby union concussion claim investigation

The law firm at the center of rugby union’s concussion lawsuit is being investigated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority after a former England player claimed he was pressured into joining the class action.

Former prop Will Green told The Telegraph, external that Richard Boardman, of Rylands Garth, encouraged him to join the litigation even after a second scan carried out independently of the lawsuit found no signs of brain damage.

When Green refused to join the “no win, no fee” lawsuit, he was charged thousands of pounds in legal and medical fees by Rylands Garth.

The Telegraph reported that the company’s attempt to force the 50-year-old to pay up was rejected in court. The judge ruled that Rylands Garth misrepresented his achievements and that an engagement letter was “vague at best, confused and highly confusing.” .

Green, who won four caps for England and played for Wasps and Leinster, retired in 2007.

He said that despite telling Rylands Garth about a second conflicting diagnosis, they “still pressured me to sign up for the group action and sent me several emails putting pressure on me.”

He added: “To do so would have been a fraud on the court because the diagnosis of the plaintiff’s medical experts turned out to be incorrect.”

“Nevertheless, the plaintiff attempted to persuade me to join the group proceedings.”

“Following further information in the legal process, we can confirm that we will consider this before deciding on next steps,” an SRA spokesman said.

In a statement released on Monday, Rylands Garth said: “At no time was Mr Green lied to, nor has the court found that he was.”

“We believe the 37-page commitment letter Mr Green signed was very clear.

“We represent approximately 900 plaintiffs who have suffered some form of brain injury while playing their favorite sports. No one was asked to do anything for the investigation.”

However, there is a risk for players that Rylands Garth will subsequently charge them if they withdraw from the lawsuit after initial testing.

“We use sophisticated tests that experts consider to be the best in the world, rather than the less sophisticated tests used by the NHS,” the company continued.

“Mr Green’s tests were carried out by two very experienced neurospecialists but he disagreed with the results and decided to leave the procedure. We have asked him to cover part of these costs, in accordance with the undertaking.”

Rylands Garth represents 295 former professional amateur rugby players including world champions Steve Thompson, Phil Vickery and Mark Regan. Similar lawsuits are also being organized in rugby league and football.

The plaintiffs claim rugby union’s governing bodies failed to take adequate measures to protect their health and safety.

The Rugby Football Union made free brain health screenings available in November 2021 to retired players who meet certain criteria., external World Rugby wants to support similar services throughout the game., external

A trial date for the lawsuit will not be set until 2025 at the earliest.