Slater & Gordon is seeking a debt for equity swap from its lenders, as the accident-prone PI firm currently owes more than the value of its business.

The firm already has outstanding loans of over AUD600 million and in the last financial year the group's net debt was AUD682.3 million. It has now proposed a plan to its lenders, including Westpac and National Australia Bank, to transform some of the banks' loans into stock. It comes at a time when S&G's shares have dived 33% this month to a record low of 18c. Or in Personal Injury terms: a pratfall.

The ambulance-chasing firm issued a statement last week saying that it is having ongoing discussions with lenders on the recapitalisation plan and it "expects that negotiations will be concluded in coming months".

A S&G negotiator tries to dress up the deal positively.

The firm had a torrid time of it recently. Last year it recorded a AUD1 billion loss, its shares were suspended, it suffered accusations of bullying and when their pay cheques arrived late staff told RollOnFriday they were worried about its future.

The PI firm's management received an absolute pasting in RollOnFriday's  Firm of the Year survey. It is "shoddily run" by "sightseeing Aussies over in London" who have "gone into hiding after losing over a billon dollars" on the Quindell debacle, said lawyers. Yet despite coming 62nd, its pathetic 39% score was sufficient to beat nemesis Irwin Mitchell, as well as Kennedys and Golden Turd KWM.