Lawyer charged with misconduct disbarred from N.B. Law Society

A Fredericton lawyer who was found guilty of 29 professional misconduct-related charges has been disbarred according to the Law Society of New Brunswick. According to a notice posted to the society's website as of August 31st, Stephen Hill is no longer able to practice law in the province. In June, he was found guilty by a panel of the Discipline Committee of misappropriating more than $1 million in client funds, failure to complete required work, and failure to follow client instructions. He's been disbarred based on the allegations. Well, they're no longer allegations, but basically what was cited in the form 22, which is the notice of complaint. Dably says on top of being disbarred, Hill will also have to reimburse the Law Society a record-breaking $1.4 million. This is to cover the compensation fund, investigation costs, hearing costs, legal fees, and janitorial costs. The last record-breaking payout to the Law Society was $700,000 in 2023 by Yasin Shukri, who gambled away his law firm client's money. This is almost double of what Mr. Hill has to repay, and so it's very significant. Dably says the Law Society plans to release the details of the final decision sometime next month. It's been a lengthy process. There were many delays, and it will be addressed in the decision as to the challenges that the Law Society has gone through with the investigation and leading up to the hearing.