Stephen Hill has been disbarred by the Law Society of New Brunswick after being found guilty of 29 professional misconduct charges.
The Fredericton lawyer can no longer practise law in the province.
The disbarment took effect on August 31, 2026.
Stephen Hill faces 29 misconduct findings
A discipline panel found Hill guilty of 29 charges earlier in 2026.
The charges included professional misconduct and the misuse of more than $1 million in client funds.
They also included failures to complete required legal work and follow client instructions.
The Law Society had received multiple complaints about Hill.
He was suspended from practising law in February 2025 while the disciplinary process continued.
Hill must pay more than $1.4 million
The financial consequences of the case are also significant.
The Law Society ordered Hill to pay $1,477,763.48.
The amount covers compensation paid to affected clients through the society’s compensation fund.
It also covers investigation and hearing costs, legal fees and other expenses.
The payment is the largest such amount recorded by the New Brunswick regulator.
The previous largest payout was $700,000 in 2023.
That case involved lawyer Yassin Choukri.
Law Society waited before releasing full details
The regulator has not yet released the full findings behind all 29 charges.
Joleen Dable, the Law Society’s registrar of complaints, said more details will be made public.
She explained that the regulator wanted to ensure all complaints were properly investigated and resolved before releasing the information.
The Law Society’s public records show that the case involved 29 charges.
Its discipline records were updated on September 10, 2026.
The records also confirm that a notice of disbarment was issued for Hill.
Disciplinary case had been running for years
The disciplinary process did not begin recently.
The Law Society’s decision shows that complaints involving Hill were processed over several years.
The record cited complaints dating from August 2022 to June 2025.
It also said Hill repeatedly requested extensions during the investigation.
According to the panel, about 13 requests for extensions were granted.
However, the panel said Hill did not respond to about 26 requests for information.
The panel concluded that this created delays in the investigation and resolution of the complaints.
Hill had already been suspended
Hill was not practising when the main disciplinary hearing took place.
The Law Society had already suspended him in 2025.
The discipline panel later ruled that the complaints were deemed admitted after Hill failed to file a required reply within the prescribed period.
It then found that he had committed professional misconduct as alleged in the notice of complaint.
A sanction hearing followed.
The final outcome was disbarment.
The Law Society formally recorded the decision as effective August 31, 2026.
What Stephen Hill’s disbarment means
The decision means Hill is no longer authorised to practise law in New Brunswick.
The case also highlights the role of the Law Society’s compensation fund in protecting clients who suffer financial losses connected to lawyer misconduct.
The regulator is now seeking to recover the record amount ordered against Hill.
For affected clients, the compensation and disciplinary decisions bring another stage of a lengthy process to an end.
Source: Global News
