The special masters for the NFL concussion settlement on Monday found that five law firms representing 98 retired NFL players with Parkinson’s disease claims “surreptitiously outsourced” decisions on diagnoses and “compromised their clients’ claims.”
Special masters are subject-matter experts appointed by judges to manage implementations of settlements in complex litigation. They have authority to make important decisions about how settlement terms, including how eligibility for compensation ought to be understood, and review audits and other probes into settlement practices. The special masters for the NFL concussion settlement are David Hoffman, a law professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, and Jo-Ann Verrier, a former Penn Law vice dean.
The 51-page decision, signed by Hoffman, criticized Douglas Grossinger, Feder Law, Pro Athlete Law Firm, Syme Law and Reppert Oates & Vytell—of which retired NFL player Bart Oates has been a partner—for allegedly trying to convert “questionable” Parkinson’s diagnoses “into payable claims.”
The decision means that pending Parkinson’s claims for 37 retired players are subject to denial because of an alleged “scheme to leverage unreliable outside medical records.” Those players can submit new claims.
