Hundreds of former rugby league and rugby union players who are suing the game's governing bodies for brain injuries have hit a snag that makes a botched lineout look like a well-oiled machine. According to Susan Rodway KC, the barrister representing the claimants, they are now “staring into the precipice” after their solicitor, Richard Boardman, was criticized by the managing judge, Senior Master Cook, for his handling of the case. Boardman has formally requested to step down, and the case may be taken over by Leigh Day, who have been consulting since February.

The players issued a statement Wednesday night saying they had decided to “terminate the instruction of Rylands Garth” and are in the process of appointing new solicitors. “This decision has not been taken lightly. We would like to place on record our sincere gratitude to Rylands Garth and in particular Richard Boardman,” the statement said, in what might be the politest firing in legal history. They added that they believe “this represents a positive step in progressing the litigation.”

Cook described it as a “dramatic change,” which is judicial code for “this is a mess.” The claimants face the threat of strikeouts because Rylands Garth failed to comply with the judge’s order to disclose all available medical documents to the defendants. If the strikeouts go ahead, hundreds of claimants will be removed from the proceedings. “There is a sword hanging over these players,” Rodway said, as she appealed for relief. “Although the issues are generic the impact of them relates to distinct individuals who have suffered life‑changing injuries, and who have suffered enormous stress and anxiety.” Some, she noted, have taken their own lives. “These are not claims for double glazing gone wrong, but for catastrophic brain injuries and each of these players has a claim for hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of pounds.”

According to Boardman’s court filings, Leigh Day is “engaging in a period of due diligence in order to decide whether they would be in a position to take over subject to the clients’ agreement.” A spokesperson for Leigh Day said the firm “have not had an opportunity to properly consider whether they can come on record as solicitors in this claim” and that they “are reviewing the position.” The claimants argue that “the change of solicitor on the record not only demonstrates how seriously the claimants take the criticisms levelled at them, but that there will be a completely different regime going forward in which both the court and the defendants can have full confidence.”

Confidence seems to be in very short supply. For the past two years, both cases - which are still in the pre-trial phase - have been held up by arguments over whether Boardman’s firm complied with disclosure obligations. The defendants - World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union, the Welsh Rugby Union in one case, and the Rugby Football League and the British Amateur Rugby League Association in the other - originally requested to conduct their own medical testing on the claimants. The court decided that full medical testing would be “complex, expensive, and unnecessary” and that claimants must disclose all medical records. The two legal teams would then select their own pools of proposed lead claimants. But little progress has been made because, the defendants argue, Rylands Garth failed repeatedly to provide all the documents.

Cook was unequivocal: “On any view there has been widespread non-compliance and there has been late compliance.” He also accused Boardman of “providing misleading evidence in court.” “We’ve been four years trying to get to this point,” he said. “It has required orders and those orders have had to be backed up by an Unless Order, and even that wasn’t accepted, but appealed against.” Cook did not agree with the claimants' argument that the defendants were being petty. “It’s not the defendants being difficult for the sake of being difficult, it is the defendants wanting to make sure this process has integrity we can all rely on. We’re here to do justice to people, but the process has to have integrity.”

Rodway argued the claimants “are altering the process and will have a different person at the head” and that “the change of solicitors is significantly important because it shows the players taking matters into their own hands.” Leigh Day recently won a case against British Gymnastics over abuse allegations. It is understood that Boardman intends to remain involved as co-counsel, because apparently nothing says “fresh start” like keeping the guy who got you into this mess.