Seven decades after a thwarted head forced former MLB pitcher Matt Garza out of football, he is attempting to find the hit area for one last ball that was bag him millions. Next month, Garza is slated to go to trial over a$ 10 million disability insurance claim that was denied after he medically retired from the game in 2018. After the insured settled out of the event earlier this year, the legal dispute then centers around which party —or parties—should finally bear responsibility for Garza submitting an inadequate plan application prior to the 2017 MLB time. Garza’s event has served as a cautionary tale for high-profile players seeking illness insurance, and the potential hazards that may occur even after a scheme has been executed. In broad strokes, Garza contends that he was ultimately victimized by the professional failures, prerogatives and conflicts of companies he had retained to serve his best interest. Garza, 40, had obtained his coverage through International Specialty Insurance, a Lloyd’s of London coverholder that has been the subject of controversy over its athlete disability policies, some of which have ended up in litigation. After being denied coverage, Garza initially filed a federal lawsuit in November 2020 against Lloyd’s, ISI and Gilbert Insurance Services, the California-based agency run by ex-sports agent Dennis Gilbert. Garza later refiled his case in California state court and added NKSFB, the accounting and business management firm, as a defendant. Garza had been a client of NKSFB, which is popular among Hollywood celebrities and pro athletes, since 2007. The case’s other named defendants include Paradigm Gilbert, which acquired Gilbert Insurance Services in Aug. 2020 as part of a partnership involving Higginbotham, the Texas-based insurance company. According to a press release at the time, Higginbotham credited NKSFB for having “introduced ” Paradigm to Gilbert. Meanwhile, in early 2021, ISI’s “assets” were acquired by a rival Lloyd’s coverholder, Exceptional Risk Advisors, which is not a defendant in the lawsuit. ( ISI’s attorney did not respond to an email seeking comment. ) According to the complaint, Garza accused Lloyd’s of breach of contract for what he called an “after-the-fact, speculative underwriting process ” designed to release it from its financial obligations. Separately, he accused Gilbert, ISI and NKSFB of breaching their broker and fiduciary duties by allegedly encouraging him to fill out an incomplete insurance application and failing to do their due diligence. Garza has also asserted claims of negligent misrepresentation and breach of contract against some of those co-defendants. Los Angeles Superior Court records show that in May, Lloyd’s settled with Garza for$ 5 million, a deal that received the court’s sign-off in September. Lloyd’s had sought to keep the settlement amount, which has not been previously reported, under seal, but Judge Stephen P. Pfahler noted that Lloyd’s had already disclosed the amount in a publicly filed pleading, making its confidentiality request moot. In recent weeks, Judge Pfahler ruled against Paradigm Gilbert’s and ISI’s attempts to dismiss the lawsuit through summary judgment. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday morning on Gilbert Insurance Service’s motion to do the same, which was joined in by NKSFB, ISI and Paradigm Gilbert. If that effort proves unsuccessful, or the matter is not settled beforehand, the case is scheduled to go to a bench trial on Nov. 4. Pierce O’Donnell, a lawyer for NKSFB, told Sportico in a statement that his client “bears no responsibility ” and “looks forward to being vindicated at trial. ” Added O’Donnell: “For more than a decade, NKSFB was Matt Garza’s trusted business management team that aced every assignment. Garza has always praised their skill, dedication and loyalty to his family and him. ” Dennis Gilbert and attorneys for his eponymous companies did not respond to emails seeking comment. Garza’s attorney Richard Giller declined to comment. Garza had enjoyed a successful, dozen-years-long MLB career when, in June 2017, he collided with his Milwaukee Brewers teammate, 277-pound first baseman Jesús Aguilar, in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Garza suffered a torn labrum and struggled pitching through the injury for the remainder of the season. After undergoing offseason shoulder surgery in January 2018, Garza was ruled out for the entire 2018 MLB campaign and ultimately retired without throwing another pitch. However, when he filed his insurance claim with Lloyd’s in July 2019, the London insurance market responded by saying that his application was incomplete and inaccurate, since it had failed to disclose pre-existing injuries to that same shoulder. A medical expert later retained by Lloyd’s claimed that 50 % of his shoulder disability owed to problems that had occurred in the three years prior to the policy being taken out, a position that Garza disputes. Garza asserts that, upon the advice of his business and insurance agents, he originally signed a blank policy application while seated in the Brewers clubhouse during opening week of the 2017 season. In his complaint, Garza claimed that “based upon information and belief, ” NKSFB was the entity that was responsible for sending him the blank application to sign, filling in partial information afterwards, and then forwarding it on to Gilbert. Court records show Garza, in addition to signing the application, also put his autograph on a HIPAA compliant authorization release of his health records. Gilbert, in its motion for summary judgment, insisted that none of its employees consulted Garza on the application process at that time. However, Garza noted that, as part of the application submission, Dennis Gilbert signed an “agent statement ” testifying to its accuracy and completeness. However, in his defense, Gilbert argues that the policy application prevented the insurance agent from “undertaking the very services that Mr. Garza claims … Gilbert failed to perform. ” Earlier this year, Judge Pfahler sanctioned one of Gilbert’s lawyers for$ 6,000 over discovery violations. Last September, Sportico reported on Paradigm Gilbert’s role in procuring disability insurance for University of Colorado star football players Travis Hunter and Shedeur Sanders, the son of CU head coach Deion Sanders. Neither player was covered with income protection plans as of last year’s season opener against Colorado State, during which Hunter suffered a serious injury that sidelined him for four weeks. ( This has been updated with Garza’s attorney declining to comment. )