{"id":13581,"date":"2026-06-10T15:02:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T15:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=13581"},"modified":"2026-06-10T15:02:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T15:02:19","slug":"law-firms-cheated-in-filing-claims-with-nfls-1-billion-concussion-settlement-fund-report-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=13581","title":{"rendered":"Law firms cheated in filing claims with NFL\u2019s $1 billion concussion settlement fund, report says"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

By GENE JOHNSON<\/strong><\/p>\n

The court officials overseeing the NFL\u2019s $1 billion settlement fund for concussion-related injuries have barred five law firms from handling any more claims from former players, after finding that they fraudulently steered clients toward doctors willing to give them a Parkinson\u2019s disease diagnosis whether they exhibited symptoms or not.<\/p>\n

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The five firms represented or performed work involving 98 former players who in recent years sought six- to seven-figure payouts from the settlement for Parkinson\u2019s disease claims, the special masters appointed to help oversee the settlement wrote filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n

Of those, 37 remained pending and will now be denied, with a chance for the players to restart the claims process. But 57 were approved \u2014 totaling more than $95 million \u2014 before tips about suspicious activity prompted an audit. The attorneys\u2019 share of that came out to about $20 million, the report said, and additional firms may have been involved in similar actions.<\/p>\n

The report called it \u201can organized scheme \u2026 in which these law firms \u2014 and potentially others \u2014 circumvented the Settlement\u2019s anti-fraud safeguards and laundered questionable Parkinson\u2019s Disease diagnoses into payable claims.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the report, the attorneys involved included Bart Oates, a former three-time Super Bowl champion with the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers who earned his law degree while still playing in the NFL. Oates did not immediately return a message left by The Associated Press on his law firm voicemail seeking comment.<\/p>\n

NFL fund meant to last for 65 years<\/h4>\n

The NFL in 2013 agreed to establish the fund, meant to last for 65 years, to settle class-action allegations that it long hid what it knew about the neurological risks of playing after concussions. The plan offers retired players baseline testing and compensation of up to $5 million for the most serious illnesses linked to football concussions, including Alzheimer\u2019s, Parkinson\u2019s, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and deaths involving chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE.<\/p>\n

The league has previously expressed concerns about doctor-shopping or other fraud in the disbursement of the money, while some attorneys representing players have accused the league of throwing up roadblocks for players seeking payment. A judge in 2019 terminated three of the four lawyers serving as class counsel after they objected to restrictions on geographical restrictions on the doctors who can evaluate retired players for dementia and other brain injuries.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThe NFL remains committed to ensuring that players and their families receive the benefits they deserve, and any misconduct threatens the integrity of the Settlement and the prompt payment of legitimate claims,\u201d league spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement to the AP. \u201cWe are pleased with the Special Masters\u2019 Decision, which sends a clear message that fraud in the NFL Concussion Settlement Program will not be tolerated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the settlement, only doctors contracted with the claims program are allowed to render qualifying diagnoses; those doctors must be board-certified, have expertise in neurology, and comply with anti-influence rules designed to prevent fraud or kickbacks.<\/p>\n

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Law firms recruited retired players<\/h4>\n

The report said that the law firms circumvented that requirement by recruiting retired players as clients and sending them to unapproved doctors who diagnosed them with Parkinson\u2019s and prescribed them a drug that suppresses the symptoms.<\/p>\n

At one point, retired players waited in a hotel lobby in Dallas to meet with a traveling doctor who had rented a suite for the purpose of examining them for Parkinson\u2019s, the report said. Another unapproved doctor used by the firms was neither board-certified nor known to be a movement disorders specialist, but even if he were, he would have been ineligible due to past bankruptcy, tax liens and civil judgments, it said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

After the diagnosis and prescription from an unapproved doctor, the law firms sent the clients to approved ones \u2014 who were hamstrung in making a decision about whether the former player had the disease, because the player was already on medication to suppress the symptoms, the report said. The approved doctors typically could rely only on the past medical history: the prior diagnosis and current prescription.<\/p>\n

The report identified the law firms involved as Douglas Grossinger, Attorney at Law; Feder Law, LLC; Pro Athlete Law Firm, P.A.; Syme Law, PLLC; and Reppert Oates & Vytell, LLC. It said the practice began with Grossinger, who then recruited other attorneys to submit claims for him so as to avoid raising suspicion for submitting so many Parkinson\u2019s claims.<\/p>\n

Oates did not farm out claims to other attorneys, but he engaged in a similar practice with diagnoses, the report said, with informants telling auditors that he \u201ccold-called Retired NFL Players, promising a Diagnosis of Parkinson\u2019s Disease\u201d if the players switched from another law firm to his.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy structuring their clients\u2019 evaluations in this way, Mr. Grossinger and ROV deliberately put (approved) Physicians in a position where they had little choice but to defer to manufactured outside records,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

Grossinger, a New York-licensed attorney, declined to comment on the record when contacted by the AP. Pennsylvania-based Fred Feder said in a text message he would not make any statement without first consulting his lawyer. The AP could not immediately confirm contact information for Syme Law or Pro Athlete Law Firm.<\/p>\n

Johnson reported from Seattle. AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Court officials overseeing the NFL\u2019s $1 billion concussion settlement fund have barred five law firms from handling any more claims.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13580,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nLaw firms cheated in filing claims with NFL\u2019s $1 billion concussion settlement fund, report says - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=13581\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Law firms cheated in filing claims with NFL\u2019s $1 billion concussion settlement fund, report says - 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