Australia’s private equity-owned personal injury giant, Slater & Gordon, reported a $46 million after-tax profit for the 2026 financial year, nearly doubling its annual profit and marking its third consecutive year of profit growth. Revenue climbed 12.8% to $286.3 million, while the firm paid its first dividend in a decade, distributing $10 million in dividends, principally benefiting its private equity owner, Allegro Funds.
This recovery comes after a period of financial instability, including accounting problems, mounting debt, and a spectacular collapse in its share price following its 2007 listing as the world’s first publicly listed law firm. Allegro acquired the business in 2023 for $150 million, setting the stage for its restructuring and subsequent recovery. Chief executive Dina Tutungi declared that the firm had moved beyond its recovery phase: “We’ve hit a point now where we’re no longer rebuilding,” she said. “We’re building.”
Slater & Gordon says it secured $1.4 billion in compensation for clients during the financial year, while increasing its lawyer headcount by 5 per cent. The firm is now targeting further growth through class actions, including a recently launched greenwashing claim against energy company AGL. It is also investing in legal AI, recently launching Lawra, a free public-facing chatbot designed to assess potential claims and direct prospective clients to appropriate lawyers.
The results come despite another controversy involving an unauthorised staff-wide email disclosing salary details for approximately 900 employees, an incident that prompted investigations and legal proceedings.
Slater & Gordon’s recovery offers an interesting counterpoint to the financial pressures confronting major law firms elsewhere. While traditional partnership firms grapple with escalating partner remuneration and the costs of retaining talent, Slater & Gordon is showing how a corporatised, private equity-backed legal business can rebuild profitability. The next question is whether Allegro will eventually seek an exit, potentially testing investor appetite for a business whose disastrous public-market history once made it a cautionary tale for the legal profession.
