Ian Nolan is to sue Justin Edinburgh three years after a challenge which fractured the right leg of the 30-year-old in two places.
The incident took place on February 21, 1998 when Nolan was playing for Sheffield Wednesday and Edinburgh was with Tottenham.
The 36th minute tackle at Hillsborough led to Nolan spending 18 months on the sidelines.
He missed the entire 1998-99 season in the process and harmed his international prospects with Northern Ireland.
Nolan, who joined Bradford from Wednesday last summer, has confirmed he is taking action against Edinburgh, who now plays for First Division Portsmouth.
The right-back has employed the solicitors who helped Gordon Watson, the former Bradford striker awarded almost £1million in damages after winning a High Court claim for negligence in October 1998 against Huddersfield defender Kevin Gray.
Watson also suffered a double fracture of his right leg following a tackle from Gray during a First Division match in February 1997.
After initially dropping criminal proceedings, Watson served a High Court writ against Gray and Huddersfield, which resulted in the 29-year-old being awarded £909,000.
Bradford chairman Geoffrey Richmond has made it clear despite the similarity of the two incidents, the Bantams are not involved in any way with Nolan's case.