A group action on behalf of the estimated 40,000 UK women who received cosmetic breast implants made by a now-defunct French company has signed up more than 50 law firms, in what could be the final group action of its kind.

One of the lawyers concerned said that the action against clinics who fitted implants made by Poly Implant Prothèse (PIP), could be the last to be funded through conditional fee agreements (CFA). The Jackson reforms to civil litigation will require claimants to pay after-the-event insurance premiums up front.

The case concerns implants made with low-grade silicone which are liable to rupture and leak. Many women have asked private clinics that fitted the PIP product to replace it with a safer version. However, some clinics have gone out of business since carrying out the surgery and others say they lack the skills to remedy the procedure.

National firm Russell Jones & Walker (RJW) project litigation partner Richard Langton, who is leading the group action, said: ‘We wrote to the government in January inviting it to broker a solution, but didn’t even get an acknowledgment.

‘We will now ask the insurance industry to step up to the plate and see if its oft-repeated rhetoric about avoiding expensive litigation is backed by actions. Litigation should be the last resort, but it will happen if our approach is rejected.’

The action could mark the end of an era, Langton said. ‘If the Jackson reforms are implemented, it is difficult to see how lower-value claims with an uncertain outcome could ever be litigated. Clients in a case like this who feel they have been let down by one professional are understandably nervous about embarking on a claim. If they had to fund an ATE premium up front, win or lose, few would risk it. Insurers and uninsured suppliers of goods and services will sleep a little sounder.’

Claimant solicitors are meeting in London and elsewhere next week.