WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. — The state’s highest court just disciplined the founders of a law firm who clients said became victims when they paid the firm to help save their homes.
Channel 9 learned the KEL law firm will likely never have to pay back those clients.
Over time, John Rowley and Juanita Rowley raised a family and once had a home in Winter Springs.
But all of that is gone now.
When John Rowley lost his job several years ago, he and his wife went to mega law firm KEL for a loan modification.
They handed over $2,700, but claimed they could never get hold of an attorney.
They still waited more than a year for help.
“It never happened. It just keeps getting deeper and deeper,” Juanita Rowley said.
After countless similar claims, the Florida Bar asked the Florida Supreme Court to discipline the firm’s three founders.
They could have been disbarred, but the state’s highest court decided a public reprimand and a $3,700 fine was enough.
For the Rowleys it was a slap in the face.
“They did absolutely nothing for us,” John Rowley said.
The Rowleys never got their money back and the court didn’t order lawyers to do that.
Without the help, they eventually lost their home. They’re now rebuilding their life in an apartment.
“We have not been in an apartment since I got out of the military in 1968,” John Rowley said.
Lawyers for KEL were not available for comment.
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