Katie Hyden
Employee
7003284

Decision - Employee-related decision

Outcome: Control of non-qualified staff (Section 43 / Section 99 order)

Outcome date: 18 September 2025

Published date: 6 October 2025

Firm details

Firm or organisation at date of publication and at time of matters giving rise to outcome

Name: FWJ Legal Limited

Address(es): 6 Coldbath Square, London, EC1R 5HL

Firm ID: 599151

Outcome details

This outcome was reached by SRA decision.

Decision details

Ms Hyden, who is not a solicitor, was at the time of the misconduct employed by Francis Wilks Jones Legal Limited of 6 Coldbath Square, London EC1R 5HL (the firm). The firm is a licensed body.

A finding of dishonesty was made against Ms Hyden and she was made subject to a disqualification order under section 99 of the Legal Services Act 2007.

The SRA has disqualified Ms Hyden from holding any of the following roles in law firms regulated by the SRA:

• Head of Legal Practice
• Head of Finance and Administration
• A manager
• An employee

Reasons/basis

Ms Hyden was employed as a senior debt recovery assistant at the firm.

On 28 August 2024, the firm received a court order in respect of one of its litigation matters which Ms Hyden was responsible for. The order stated that the client's representative had missed the hearing due to a road traffic accident. A review of the file in Ms Hyden's absence from the office that day identified that:

• There was no evidence of a bundle having been prepared;
• No agent had been instructed by the firm to attend court;
• No statement of costs had been sent;
• There were no attendance notes about the advocate's alleged accident;
• There had been no update on the file since 30 July 2024.

In a meeting with the firm's deputy Compliance Officer for Legal Practice and Practice Director on 2 September 2024, Ms Hyden maintained that she had instructed an advocate to attend the hearing via email, and had been notified on the date of the hearing that he had been in a road traffic accident and therefore could not attend.

It was found that Ms Hyden:

• falsified documents, including a letter instructing a court advocate to attend a hearing, an email confirming receipt of instruction from the agent, and an attendance note claiming the advocate had been in a road traffic accident, to mislead her employer; and
• misled the court by telling them that the advocate had a road traffic accident on the way to the hearing, when in fact no advocate had been instructed.

It was also found that Ms Hyden's conduct was dishonest.

Other information

Ms Hyden's conduct breached relevant duties that applied to her as an employee of the firm, namely, Principles 2, 4 and 5 of the SRA Principles 2019.

It was found that it would be undesirable for Ms Hyden to act as a Head of Legal Practice, Head of Finance and Administration, a manager or an employee of a body licensed in accordance with section 99 of the Legal Services Act 2007.

Ms Hyden was disqualified from holding any of these roles.

She was also directed to pay costs of £600.

SRA Principles breached

SRA Principle 2 You act in a way that upholds public trust and confidence in the solicitors' profession and in legal services provided by authorised persons.

SRA Principle 4 You act with honesty.

SRA Principle 5 You act with integrity.