I think there was a blow up regarding this a few years ago. From what I understand, some believe the process was changed and is now better. I'm not close enough the business to judge this unfortunately. All that to say, I wouldn't necessarily write it off entirely on that basis immediately - I think they only count WIP if there's a good expectation they will get that money paid eventually.

Value trap that is. Sorry - couldn't resist. That might be a bit harsh, but I think you have to be careful with these no win no fee businesses. You'll see in the balance sheet they have a lot of WIP but that is a bit of a judgement call about how much of that is collectible. And they won't know the answer to that for a long time - that is, it depends on their prospects for each case. As a result of the business model, cash flows are lumpy and hard to value. These businesses always look interesting from a ROE/PE perspective, but they are valued by the market less because of these risks - Slater and Gordon before all it's problems looked a bit like this too...