FREDERICTON — Fredericton lawyer Stephen Hill owes more than $1 million following a series of complaints about professional misconduct, says the registrar of complaints at the Law Society of New Brunswick. The law society’s discipline committee released a notice last week saying Hill was disbarred as of Aug. 31. As part of their decision, the committee ordered Hill to pay approximately $1.4 million to cover compensation payments the law society made to his clients, as well as legal fees, investigation costs and custodial costs, said Joleen Dable, registrar of complaints and deputy executive director of the law society. Hill is required to pay the money within a year of the decision date, she said. The decision comes after the committee found Hill guilty of 29 professional misconduct complaints in May, Dable said. These included misappropriating client funds, failing to complete work for clients and failing to respond to the law society about complaints filed against him on time. “1/8Clients 3/8 would have paid Mr. Hill for services and either the services weren’t rendered or part of the services were rendered, or he would have kept the money,” Dable said. “There’s a pattern there in all complaints.” Dable said the society used its compensation fund to reimburse a number of Hill’s clients. These included people who gave the former lawyer hundreds of thousands of dollars to complete mortgage transactions. The law society said he misappropriated those funds. “There are significant amounts we’re talking about,” she said. “One complainant was out $400,000, another one $300,000.” Dable said the amount of money provided to Hill’s clients through the compensation fund is the highest she’s seen during her six years working at the law society. Dable also said that Hill made multiple requests for extensions during the disciplinary process, contributing to delays in the law society’s review of the complaints. According to the documents released by the law society, the discipline committee granted Hill’s initial adjournment request and postponed his hearing from November 2025 until March 2026. The documents also revealed that in March 2026, a lawyer for Hill requested an adjournment saying his client had been incarcerated for five days after being sentenced for civil contempt. However, the committee denied that request for an adjournment and proceeded with a hearing. The discipline committee concluded Hill admitted his guilt by failing to respond to the complaints by its deadline. It initially suspended Hill from practising law in February 2025 after receiving complaints about his conduct. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2026. -- By Tori Fitzpatrick in Halifax.
