FRYING PAN TO FIRE
A KEY figure who helped oversee Slater & Gordon’s disastrous misadventure in the UK has quietly resurfaced in Brisbane.
Oddly enough, she’s working at another deeply troubled listed law firm.
Yes, Cath Evans returned to corporate life as a consultant for Shine Lawyers about a month ago and there’s talk she may just snare a fulltime role there.
Evans spent more than 20 years at now-embattled Slater, including a three-year stint as CEO and COO of the UK business until mid-2015.
During that time, Slater shelled out $1.3 billion for a British mob known as Quindell.
It turned out to be a catastrophic move, with Slater later writing off two-thirds of the purchase price and suffering a net loss of more than $1 billion last financial year.
Cath Evans caricature by Brett Lethbridge.
Evans took leave without pay in March last year and returned to Australia while a restructure of the UK operations was under way, including the closure of branch offices.
She left the group three months later with a $375,000 pay out and lavish praise from a Slater spin doctor. “Cath made a remarkable contribution and we know that she will continue to make her mark in whatever future endeavours she chooses,’’ he said.
Evans still owns nearly 4 million Slater shares, which closed at just under a meagre 10¢ on Thursday. That’s a long way from the $8.07 peak in early 2015, when her holding was then worth more than $32 million.
Anyway, Evans arrives at Shine’s Brisbane bunker as the share price continues to edge down following a period of turmoil at the top.
Boss Courtney Petersen fell on her sword in December, but not before clashing with plenty of senior figures who fled for the exits.
The Erin Brockovich-aligned firm also saw a 50 per cent plunge in net profit last year. It flagged a profit warning for this year but managed to eke out a $3.9 million profit in the first half. Evans declined to comment yesterday, fobbing off your diarist to an in-house spin doctor. “We’re very happy to have her aboard,’’ the PR operative told us.
SHJ Price at posting:
51.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
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