Senior assistant faked advocate instructions and misled court, SRA finds conduct dishonest
A senior debt recovery assistant at a London law firm has been disqualified from working in any SRA-regulated practice after falsifying documents and lying to both her employer and the court about a road traffic accident that never happened.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) found that Katie Hyden, who was employed by Francis Wilks Jones Legal Limited (FWJ Legal) of Coldbath Square, London, fabricated multiple records to conceal her failure to arrange representation at a court hearing.
In a decision published on 6 October 2025, the SRA imposed a Section 99 disqualification order under the Legal Services Act 2007, banning Ms Hyden from holding any role in an SRA-regulated firm — including as Head of Legal Practice, Head of Finance and Administration, manager, or employee.
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According to the SRA, the misconduct occurred in August 2024 when the firm received a court order indicating that its client’s representative had missed a hearing due to a road traffic accident. A subsequent review of the case file during Ms Hyden’s absence revealed glaring discrepancies:
- No bundle had been prepared.
- No agent had been instructed to attend the hearing.
- No statement of costs had been sent.
- There were no attendance notes referring to an accident.
- The file had not been updated for over a month.
When confronted in a meeting with the firm’s deputy Compliance Officer for Legal Practice and Practice Director on 2 September 2024, Ms Hyden claimed she had instructed an advocate by email and that he had later called to report being involved in an accident.
However, the SRA found those claims to be false. An internal investigation uncovered that Ms Hyden had fabricated an instruction letter, a purported confirmation email from the agent, and an attendance note describing the supposed accident. She then misled the court by stating that the advocate had been unable to attend due to the collision — even though no advocate had ever been instructed.
The regulator concluded that Ms Hyden’s actions were deliberately dishonest and designed to conceal her failure to manage the hearing properly.
In its decision notice, the SRA said: “It was found that Ms Hyden falsified documents to mislead her employer and misled the court by claiming an advocate had been in a road traffic accident when no such instruction had been made.”
The SRA determined that her behaviour breached three core principles of the SRA Principles 2019:
- Principle 2: Acting in a way that upholds public trust and confidence in the profession.
- Principle 4: Acting with honesty.
- Principle 5: Acting with integrity.
The regulator found that such conduct made it “undesirable” for Ms Hyden to continue in any regulated legal role, and therefore imposed a full disqualification order.
The decision means Ms Hyden cannot work in any capacity — including managerial or support roles — in a firm licensed by the SRA without its prior written approval.
In addition to the disqualification, Ms Hyden was ordered to pay £600 towards the SRA’s investigation costs.
The case highlights the seriousness with which the regulator treats dishonesty by non-qualified staff, particularly when it involves misleading the court. Section 99 orders are among the SRA’s most severe sanctions for non-solicitors, effectively barring them from future employment in the legal sector.