The Solicitors Regulation Authority has secured a two-year suspension and £20,000 fine against veteran solicitor Grenville Royston Young after the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found that he failed to cooperate with the regulator over the closure of Grenville Young Solicitor and later with the intervention into his practice.
Young, admitted to the roll in June 1981, traded through Grenville Young Solicitor in Portsmouth from November 1996 until March 2020. The tribunal found proved allegations that he failed to cooperate with SRA investigations between November 2019 and April 2023, and failed to cooperate with the SRA and its agents during and after the intervention.
The matter was heard on 30 April 2026 before a panel chaired by H Hasan, with Joshua Hitchens of Outer Temple Chambers appearing for the regulator. Young did not attend and was not represented.
The regulatory context is direct: firm closure is not an administrative afterthought but a client-protection process covering live files, client money, original documents, storage, professional indemnity insurance and run-off cover. Young initially told the SRA in October 2019 that he intended to close the firm and practise as a freelancer, but he did not complete the firm closure notification form until March 2022.
When the form was eventually filed, it disclosed £17,864.77 in the client account, two live files, 50 wills and deeds, and no paid run-off cover.
The SRA Adjudication Panel decided in April 2023 to intervene into the practice after concluding that, despite Young’s ill health, he had been given more than a year to engage meaningfully with the regulator over orderly closure. Lester Aldridge later published a client-facing intervention notice confirming that the practice had been closed and that it was assisting with client queries and file recoveries.
The tribunal judgment also records that Young had moved to postal communication only, did not provide substantive answers to repeated requests, and did not supply medical evidence to support non-attendance or an adjournment.
The decision is commercially relevant for small firms, sole practitioners and compliance officers because it shows how closure failures can turn into discipline even without a dishonesty finding. The tribunal rejected strike-off as disproportionate, but said a fine alone would not reflect the seriousness of breaches involving integrity and public trust. It ordered Young to pay £11,940 in costs, on top of the £20,000 fine and 24-month suspension.
The practical lesson for law firm management is that the SRA and Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal will treat non-engagement after closure as a continuing professional risk, requiring firms to document client-money reconciliation, file transfer, storage arrangements and run-off cover before a practice is allowed to fade from view.