Shares of Slater & Gordon closed on Tuesday at 83¢, valuing the personal injury law firm at almost $300 million. Its market capitalisation peaked at almost $2.75 billion as recently as April 2015.

Slater & Gordon said that it "continues to work with its auditors and external advisors to finalise and confirm" these items.

Recent sharemarket disclosures from Westpac, a large lender to Slater & Gordon, showed it had increased provisions relating to a property and business services loan, which the bank is understood to have told analysts was an exposure to Slater & Gordon.

Earlier in 2016 Slater & Gordon's lenders appointed advisers to assess the company's books. Auditing and insolvency expert McGrath Nicol was assigned in Australia and FTI Consulting was appointed in Britain.

The shares had rallied sharply in the lead-up to the results, gaining up to 50 per cent since February 1. As the share price has increased, short sellers who have profited from its fall have bought back shares, leading to a decline in short interest from a peak of 60 million shares in October to 30 million shares. But the suspension has put an end to the run-up in the share price and leaves current investors nervously awaiting further news about the company's financial health.

The company showed $1.15 billion of "goodwill" on its book when it reported full-year financial results for 2015.

In March 2015, Slater & Gordon acquired the professional services division from British listed firm Quindell for $1.3 billion, of which $710 million was a "goodwill" consideration. However, that acquisition has proved ill-fated, straining the law firm's cash flows, while touted regulatory changes have cast doubt over future profit from fast-track road accident claims.

The law firm became a target of short-selling hedge funds, which raised questions about how it accounted for "work in progress" – where profit was recorded for work on cases that had yet to be completed. Others doubted the wisdom of the British acquisition and the price that managing director Andrew Grech and the board paid Quindell, which was under scrutiny as a result of its accounting practises.

Slater & Gordon's accounting had been subject to an Australian Securities and Investment Commission review, which has yet to be formally completed. In November, Slater & Gordon said it would hit its full-year earnings guidance of $205 million despite flagging negative cash flow of up to $40 million in the first half of 2015. Despite twice reaffirming its earnings guidance, the company said in December it was dropping its guidance.