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We Are Not Alone: What Others Have Said About the State Bar of Georgia
They call it a grievance process. I call it a rubber stamp. In 2024-25 the State Bar of Georgia took in 3,080 grievances and, by its own report, closed or dismissed 2,814 of them at screening; it sent 215 on for investigation. Its own report cannot agree with itself: the text says grievances rose by 719, the chart says 179 (State Bar 2024-25 annual report). In 2022 three Georgia lawmakers went public; one called it “a fatal flaw in this system.” The people below said it too, in public, in their own words. I am a disabled dad, and I am not the only one the State Bar of Georgia brushed off. We are not alone.
“I asked the State Bar of Georgia for a basic disability accommodation so I could take part in its own complaint process, since their website is not ADA compliant and neither is their system for submitting complaints.”
Full review as posted
A disability access request went to the State Bar of Georgia. Here is what the Bar's second highest lawyer put in writing.
I am a disabled dad who likes dogs, donuts, and dad jokes. I asked the State Bar of Georgia for a basic disability accommodation so I could take part in its own complaint process, since their website is not ADA compliant and neither is their system for submitting complaints.
On May 12, 2026, at 2:12 PM, on Bar letterhead, the Deputy General Counsel of the State Bar of Georgia wrote to me:
"The State Bar is not a public entity subject to the ADA."
"it does not appear that you require assistance in preparing written submissions."
"your invocation of the ADA process may be directed less toward obtaining accommodation… and more toward securing a particular substantive outcome."
Read the second one again. The lawyer who helps run the office that disciplines other lawyers looked at a documented disability request and decided it did not appear I required assistance.
Now the part he left out. Eight days earlier, on May 4, 2026, a Senior Assistant General Counsel of the same Bar had already granted my accommodations in writing: written only communication and accessible electronic format. The very next day after the denial, on May 13, 2026, at 12:08 PM, the Bar confirmed it again:
"The State Bar has approved your accommodation request."
So one Bar lawyer was granting the accommodation while another Bar lawyer was writing to me that it did not appear I needed one, and suggesting I was working the disability process for an angle. Same office. Same week. Same file.
THE TIMELINE
May 4, 2026: A Senior Assistant General Counsel grants the accommodations in writing.
May 12, 2026, 2:12 PM: The Deputy General Counsel writes that it does not appear I require assistance, and questions whether I am using the ADA process for a substantive outcome.
May 13, 2026, 12:08 PM: The Bar confirms in writing that the accommodation is approved.
WHY IT MATTERS. This is not a story about one rude letter. It is a public office, funded to hold lawyers to a standard, telling a disabled member of the public that his access request did not look real, on a day its own colleague was approving that same request.
THE EVIDENCE. Every line above is a verbatim quote from Bar correspondence, with the date and time it was sent. Nothing here is paraphrased.
CURRENT OUTCOME. The complaint about this conduct was dismissed by the same office that watched it occur and did nothing.
CORRECTIONS. If any official named here by role believes a quote, date, or time on this page is inaccurate, identify the specific item and it will be corrected in writing. Otherwise all the the exact copies can be found on https://www.adamatters.com/
A public review on Yelp, July 9, 2026. Read the source
Correction, October 23, 2026. The review above is reproduced as I posted it. Two details in it are wrong, and I am correcting them here. The May 12, 2026 message from William D. NeSmith III, Deputy General Counsel, was an email, not a letter on Bar letterhead. And it did not say “The State Bar is not a public entity subject to the ADA.” His exact words were: “The State Bar of Georgia is not a public entity, such as a federal, state or local government department or agency.” and “The State Bar of Georgia is not a department or agency of the State of Georgia, therefore we are not required to have a published ADA Coordinator.” Read the email.
“Left emails and made numerous calls… No response… Just another CYA lawyer group.”
Full review as posted
Communicated a grievance regarding a lawyer and firm. Left emails and made numerous calls… No response… Just another CYA lawyer group.
I guess failed to understand it was an actual "Bar" not an association to help the public…
A public review on Yelp, June 29, 2026. Read the full review
“Very unpleasant experience and I got absolutely no assistance and they don’t listen I even got hung up on and they are now ignoring calls”
Full review as posted
Very unpleasant experience and I got absolutely no assistance and they don’t listen I even got hung up on and they are now ignoring calls
A public Google review, 7 months ago (viewed October 17, 2026). Read the full review
“I received a letter to my attorney complaint from the Assistant General Counsel dated January 7, 2024 on January 7, 2025.”
Reviewer says a Bar letter on their complaint arrived a year after its date.
A public Google review, a year ago (viewed October 17, 2026). Read the full review
“I even gave them a VIDEO of a lawyer committing witness influencing, and much more, and they screened it out.”
Full review as posted
I even gave them a VIDEO of a lawyer committing witness influencing, and much more, and they screened it out.
Be sure to file those grievances but make sure to get the evidence of the screen out, where activists can find it.
A public review on Yelp, August 25, 2025. Read the full review
“subjecting them "to unequal grievance and disciplinary proceedings relative to their white peers."”
Court describes Mignott's allegations against the Bar's Office of the General Counsel and vacates the dismissal on jurisdiction grounds.
Mignott v. State Bar of Georgia Foundation, Inc., No. 24-10327, Doc. 46-1, opinion filed July 30, 2025 (describing her complaint). Read the source
“This organization is not supposed to be validating and endorsing what the lawyer says to you when you're filing a complaint.”
Full review as posted
I filed a grievance against a local Georgia lawyer and the bar was favoring the attorney in the dispute. They disregard it my side of the complaint in the evidence I provided and favorite the lawyer's lies that she told.
This organization is not supposed to be validating and endorsing what the lawyer says to you when you're filing a complaint.
They're helping bad attorneys rip off their clients
A public review on Yelp, February 20, 2025. Read the full review
“After review and screening by the Office of General Counsel, 2,093 grievances were closed or dismissed for their failure to state facts sufficient to invoke the jurisdiction of the State Bar”
Bar received 2,361 grievance forms; 2,093 closed or dismissed at screening (count includes some pending from the prior year); 185 referred for investigation.
State Bar of Georgia, 2023-24 Report of the Office of the General Counsel. Read the source
“We need all screened out grievances to go to Marsha Mignott in Tucker so she can add them to evidence of bar misconduct.”
Full review as posted
We need all screened out grievances to go to Marsha Mignott in Tucker so she can add them to evidence of bar misconduct. Please find her office via a simple search. Her assistant is Shermaine.
A public comment on PissedConsumer, April 18, 2024. Read the full review