Stephen Anthony Hogan

Findings — machine-extracted (anthropic-batch:claude-opus-4-8); verify against the decision

Stephen Anthony Hogan, a solicitor admitted in 1997, was found to have practised as a solicitor and carried out reserved legal activities without authorisation and without a practising certificate while trading as 'Divorce Assistant', an unauthorised and uninsured entity operated from his home. He used his Setfords email address to make clients believe they were represented by Setfords, misled the Court by describing himself as a solicitor on court forms, failed to keep proper records, failed to respond to complaints, and breached the SRA Accounts Rules by holding client money in a personal account. The Tribunal made an express finding of dishonesty in respect of allegations 1, 2 and 3, rejecting his 'muddled thinking' defence. He did not attend the hearing. The Tribunal struck him off the Roll and ordered costs of £39,525.00 payable immediately.

Duties found breached:

• Not mislead the court
• No taking unfair advantage
• Act only on proper, lawful instructions
• Complaints procedure and handling
• No improper use of client money
• Professional indemnity insurance
• Hold a current practising certificate
• Not misrepresent regulated status

Aggravating factors:

• Proven dishonesty
• Deliberate, calculated and repeated misconduct over a period of time
• Motivation was personal financial gain - diverted Setfords leads to Divorce Assistant to avoid sharing fees
• Created a vehicle with specific intention of avoiding compliance, regulation and insurance requirements
• Caused foreseeable harm to clients and the reputation of the profession
• Continued to trade after becoming aware of SRA investigation
• Compounded misconduct by failing to deal with client complaints

Mitigating factors:

• Admitted underlying allegations (save dishonesty), demonstrating some insight
• No previous disciplinary matters
• No other investigations into his conduct