THE law firm at the heart of rugby league’s concussion lawsuit is now under investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
Rylands Garth is the company being investigated after former England rugby union prop, Will Green, alleged that he was pressured into joining the law firm and its claim against the rugby union authorities for alleged negligence.
Green, who won four England caps, told The Telegraph that Richard Boardman of Ryland Garth encouraged him to join the claim even after a second scan found no signs of brain damage.
When Green refused to join the “no win, no fee” claim, Rylands Garth then charged him thousands of pounds in legal and medical fees.
And, despite telling Rylands Garth of his second brain diagnosis, Green claimed that “still pressed me to sign up for the group action, sending multiple emails pressuring me”.
He added: “To do so would have perpetrated a fraud on the court because the claimant’s medical experts’ diagnosis was found to be wrong.
“Yet, despite this, the claimant still tried to pursue me to sign up to the group litigation.”
Now the Solicitors Regulation Authority has got involved, with a spokesperson saying: “Following additional information in the court case, we can confirm that we will be looking into this before deciding on next steps.
In a statement issued on Monday, Rylands Garth said: “At no point was Mr Green lied to and that’s not what the court found.
“We believe the 37-page letter of engagement Mr Green entered into was very clear.
“We represent around 900 claimants who have suffered a form of brain injury playing the sports they adored. None have been asked to pay anything for their testing.
“We use highly sophisticated testing, which experts consider the best in the world, rather than the less sophisticated testing used by the NHS.
“Mr Green’s tests were undertaken by two highly experienced neuro-specialists, but he disagreed with the results and decided to leave the action. We asked him to pay for some of those costs, in line with the letter of engagement.”
The Rugby Football League, as well as the Rugby Football Union, have had a lawsuit filed against them by almost 400 players claiming that they have suffered brain injuries and concussions due to the sport’s negligence.
Back in February of this year, the RFL revealed they were ‘confident’ in defending the claim against approximately 160 former players pursuing legal actions whom have alleged that the governing body was negligent in failing to take reasonable action to protect them from serious brain injuries.
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