The Florida Supreme Court has granted Jason Penrod’s petition for disciplinary revocation. Penrod is a Lake Wales lawyer accused of stealing from clients.
The court issued an order Thursday granting Penrod’s petition without the ability to seek readmission to The Florida Bar. The disciplinary revocation is tantamount to disbarment and is permanent, the court wrote in its order.
The revocation is effective 30 days from Thursday’s order. That interval allows Penrod to “close out his practice and protect the interests of existing clients,” the court wrote.
Suppose Penrod notifies the court in writing that he is no longer practicing law and does not need the 30 days to protect existing clients. In that case, the Supreme Court will enter an order making the revocation effective immediately. The order prevents Penrod from accepting any new business.
The order is not final until time expires for Penrod to file a motion for a rehearing, the order said.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office announced Penrod’s arrest in September on grand theft, a first-degree felony with a maximum penalty of up to 30 years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Sheriff Grady Judd said at the time that Penrod could face additional charges.
Penrod, 47, was released Sept. 10 on house arrest conditions. He has entered a plea of not guilty.
The founder and owner of Family Elder Law, Penrod was accused of stealing nearly $1.8 million from a client’s trust fund. The offices of Family Elder Law in Lake Wales, Lakeland, and Sebring closed abruptly in July with no warning to clients.
Penrod petitioned the Supreme Court in August for disciplinary revocation with the option of applying later for readmission. He later changed that petition to one not allowing readmission to The Florida Bar.
The Florida Bar’s pending investigations of Penrod have been closed in light of his revocation, spokesperson Jennifer Krell Davis said Friday.
Penrod faces a civil lawsuit from the grown children of a deceased Polk County man alleging that he diverted nearly $1.8 million from the client’s trust fund into Penrod’s personal account and then lost the money gambling at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Tampa.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the son and daughter of David D. Anderson, says that Penrod admitted the theft and proposed a plan for gradually repaying the money. In a letter included with the complaint, purportedly written by Penrod, he described himself as “a raging addict” and “a broken man.”
Penrod wrote that anxiety and depression, resulting from unresolved childhood trauma, led him to isolate himself and become a compulsive gambler.
PCSO detectives confirmed that Penrod visited the Seminole Hard Rock Casino multiple times and lost more than $1.7 million gambling, Judd said. Copies of Penrod’s bank records showed that he had wired more than $1.2 million to the Hard Rock and had withdrawn more than $24,000 from ATMs at the casino, PCSO said.
Penrod, a Vanderbilt University Law School graduate, moved to Lake Wales in 2004. He formed Family Elder Law in 2013, with its main office in Lake Wales. The firm specializes in estate planning, asset protection, Medicaid and nursing home care, probate and estate administration, and special needs protection and planning.