New lawyers have stepped forward to take on dozens of head injury claims brought by former rugby players against governing bodies.
Group litigation specialist KP Law today confirmed it has been instructed by the claimants in both the rugby union and rugby league brain injury litigation, taking the place of Rylands Garth.
It was revealed last month that Rylands Garth had come off the record and national firm Leigh Day was considering whether it could take over the claim, having been drafted in as consultants in February this year to advise on the cases. Leigh Day will remain involved as consultants to KP Law which is now acting as lead firm on the group litigation.
London-based KP Law confirmed it has notified the court and the defendants by filing and serving notices of change. The court continues to consider an application from the defendants for a strike-out of most individual cases.
A spokesperson for the firm said: ‘Having taken over these cases, KP Law will be bringing its wealth of expertise in group litigation and personal injury cases to support our clients with the care and sensitivity these issues demand and progressing the litigation effectively and expeditiously.’
The claimants, who include former England internationals Phil Vickery and Steve Thompson, continue to benefit from separate independent legal representation from Millberg London LLP on all matters pertaining to the role of KP Law as lead solicitor and on funding arrangements relating to the ongoing litigation.
Leigh Day partner David Preston added: ‘We look forward to continuing our work on these groundbreaking cases and seeking justice for the injured players.’
KP Law describes itself as a specialist in group claims and a firm which upholds consumers’ rights against large companies or organisations. It is currently running group claims relating to hearing loss among members of the armed forces, equal pay claims by supermarket workers, vehicle emissions and data breach claims.
It remains to be seen whether the rugby claims will survive the strike-out application, which was heard shortly before the summer break last month.
The court heard that the relationship between the parties was increasingly fractious: lawyers for the claimants said the six governing bodies had ‘lost sight of the reality of their actions’ and questioned their commitment to welfare of players.
The defendants submitted that the claimants had repeatedly failed to disclose medical records as required and failed to respond to reasonable enquiries.
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