The Claim Record · The Bar Record
Same Office. Different Clocks. Different Audiences.
A disabled dad filed a grievance against the Bar’s own ADA contact. The only receipt he got before it was dismissed came from the man he was complaining about.
“Received.”— the entire pre-dismissal receipt confirmation, June 18, 2026, 8:05 AM, sent by the respondent, to the complainant alone, no one copied.
When the watchdog is part of the complaint, the leash matters.
On June 17, 2026, I filed a grievance against John J. Shiptenko, the Bar’s ADA contact in my matter. It was about his own ADA-access conduct.
The next morning, the only confirmation that anyone had received it was one word, from Mr. Shiptenko himself. No case number. No conflict-free reviewer. No written explanation of how a complaint about a Bar official gets screened away from that official. On June 30, it was dismissed.
📄 Read it: the “Received.” reply
📄 Read it: the dismissal, thirteen days later
Same office. Different clocks.
These dispositions all came from the same Office of the General Counsel and State Disciplinary Board, over the same weeks. Read the columns.
| Matter | Filed | First receipt | From respondent? | Reviewer named before dismissal? | Dismissed | Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shiptenko | Jun 17, 7:21 PM | Jun 18, 8:05 AM | Yes — himself, “Received.” | No | Jun 30, 4:23 PM | 13 |
| Westbury | May 15, 11:29 AM | May 15, portal | No | No | Jun 30 | 46 |
| Morrison | May 15 | Portal | No | No | Jun 30 | 46 |
| NeSmith | May 15 | Portal | No | No | Jun 30 | 46 |
| Burgess | May 29, 7:15 PM | Jun 2, 2:23 PM | No | “a member of the State Disciplinary Board” | Jun 30 | 32 |
A watchdog cannot grade its own homework. Several of these grievances were about lawyers inside the office doing the grading.
June 30: the whole box, closed in a day
On one day, the Bar closed every related matter. The reconsideration: denied. Westbury, Morrison, NeSmith, Shiptenko, Burgess: dismissed. The box looked full. Then you count what’s missing — a corrected April 10 record, a named independent reviewer, an answer to what “received” means when the document never reaches the file.
The donut hole in this record is simple: receipt was confirmed, file placement was not.
A grievance against the Bar’s ADA contact.
The only receipt before dismissal came from him.
The respondent was visible. The review path was not.