Slater and Gordon: hubris, a roll-up and "work in progress" (2)

According to this article in the WSJ:


There’s a cautionary tale playing out in Australia over what can happen when law firms take money from outside investors, something that’s still prohibited here in the U.S.

Slater & Gordon became the world’s first publicly-traded law firm back in 2007, after the passage of legislation that allowed Australian firms to move beyond the traditional partnership model. The United Kingdom soon followed with its own law allowing outside investors in the industry.

Now, after a disastrous acquisition and crashing share price, Slater & Gordon finds itself on the wrong end of a class action suit.


I am sure the reader notices the irony in the above. The article continues:


Slater then went through a restructuring and laid off staff to avoid bankruptcy, but in August the firm said it had lost more than 1 billion Australian dollars. It’s share price has gone down by more than 95% in less than a year, Law.com reports.