Russell D. Willard, Georgia Bar: 27 Offers, Then “asserted”

Russell D. Willard took his own ADA Coordinator’s sentence, added one word, and sent it to 24 people.

The short answer

On October 21, 2026, Russell D. Willard, General Counsel of the State Bar of Georgia, wrote to a disabled dad about “your claim of being disabled” and “your asserted disability.” The dad had offered proof of his disability in 27 emails since April 20, 2026. No one at the State Bar of Georgia asked for it. Willard copied 24 people.

Scoreboard, as of October 23, 2026

Emails in which I offered proof of my disability	27
Times anyone at the State Bar of Georgia asked for the proof	0
Days from my first written answer (February 3) to Willard’s first email to me (October 21)	260
Of the 67 emails I sent the State Bar of Georgia, those that carried his address	47 (9 addressed to him)
People he copied on “asserted”	24
Members of the State Bar of Georgia Executive Committee among them	14 of 14
Of those 14, how many have written to me since	0

What happened

I am a disabled dad. I like dogs, donuts and dad jokes. I do not like being told my disability is a rumor.

In April I asked the State Bar of Georgia for help taking part in its own grievance process. I told it, in writing, on April 20: “Medical documentation is available to the Office upon request.” Then I kept saying it. Twenty seven emails. Fifteen different days. Seventeen of them carried the same sentence: “Supporting documentation is available upon written request and execution of a properly limited HIPAA-compliant authorization.”

Nobody asked. Not once. Instead, on May 4, 2026, the State Bar of Georgia granted my accommodations. On May 13, 2026, John J. Shiptenko wrote: “The State Bar has approved your accommodation request.”

So the State Bar of Georgia had the offer, did not need the proof, and said yes.

Then came eight months of silence from the top. My first written answer in my grievance went to the State Bar of Georgia on February 3, 2026. I first wrote to Russell D. Willard on April 20. His address was on 47 of the 67 emails I sent the State Bar of Georgia. On April 20, 2026, I also sent him my request for reconsideration, addressed to him by name, by UPS overnight, signature required. He did not write back. Not once.

His first email to me arrived on October 21, 2026. When he finally wrote, he went after my son, he went after me, and he called my disability “asserted.” I will not repeat what he wrote about my son. My son is not part of this site, and he never will be.

Here is the part that should make anyone at the State Bar of Georgia uncomfortable. Thirteen days earlier, on October 8, his own ADA Coordinator, John J. Shiptenko, wrote that nothing I sent was a request “to enable you to participate in its services due to your disability.” Willard wrote the same clause, word for word, and added one word: “due to your asserted disability.”

One word. Added by the General Counsel. Sent to 24 people, including every member of the Executive Committee.

Is this how they would treat their own mother if she were disabled?

What they wrote

May 13, 2026, John J. Shiptenko, Senior Assistant General Counsel: “The State Bar has approved your accommodation request.”
October 8, 2026, John J. Shiptenko: “none of what you have included in your correspondence is a request for an accommodation from the State Bar to enable you to participate in its services due to your disability.”
October 21, 2026, Russell D. Willard, General Counsel: “Every accommodation request that you made to the Office of the General Counsel pursuant to your claim of being disabled which could even arguably be considered as a request for an accommodation from the State Bar to enable you to participate in its services due to your asserted disability was granted by the designated ADA Coordinator, Senior Assistant General Counsel John Shiptenko.”
October 21, 2026, Russell D. Willard: “You have conflated and erroneously characterized, however, informational demands and other litigation-related threats as requests for accommodations.”
October 21, 2026, Russell D. Willard: “Should you wish to pursue this matter in court or through a relevant administrative proceeding, the State Bar will respond appropriately to any allegations that you raise therein and seek any remedies that we are entitled to seek.”

What I allege

I allege that between April 20 and October 7, 2026, I offered proof of my disability to the State Bar of Georgia in 27 emails, and that no one at the State Bar of Georgia asked for it.
I allege that on May 4 and May 13, 2026, the State Bar of Georgia granted my accommodations in writing.
I allege that on October 21, 2026, Russell D. Willard, General Counsel, wrote “your claim of being disabled” and “your asserted disability,” and copied 24 people, including all 14 members of the State Bar of Georgia Executive Committee.
On the face of the document, his clause matches John J. Shiptenko’s October 8 clause word for word, with one word added: “asserted.”
That is hard to square with an office that granted my accommodations in May and never asked for the proof I offered.
It appears to me that the word was added to make my disability sound like a claim instead of a fact. If that is not the reason, they are welcome to tell me what is.
I allege that I told the State Bar of Georgia in writing about my federal ADA complaint on May 15, June 10, September 14 and October 7, 2026, and that 14 days after the last of those, Willard wrote that the State Bar would “seek any remedies that we are entitled to seek.”
In my opinion, writing that to a federally protected claimant is not okay. Federal law, 42 U.S.C. 12203(b), makes it unlawful to “coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with any individual in the exercise or enjoyment of … any right granted or protected by this chapter.” I ask that his October 21 email be reviewed under that law.
I am left to wonder whether anyone on the Executive Committee read the word “asserted” and thought about a disabled person in their own family.

Why I keep going

The State Bar of Georgia answers court filings, fees and insurance claims. I answer to the court of public opinion. It is already working: a page from this site is an exhibit in Mignott v. State Bar of Georgia Foundation, Inc., No. 1:23-cv-01834-ELR. I am not a party to that case, and I filed nothing in it.

Fourteen members of the Executive Committee got this email. Five of them have opened my letters before; their read receipts came back. None of them has written to me. Georgia’s own Rule 8.3 says a lawyer who knows of another lawyer’s serious misconduct “should inform the appropriate professional authority.” The rule also says: “There is no disciplinary penalty for a violation of this Rule.”

So what about Georgia? What about Georgia, yeah?

Is this how they would treat a friend from law school if he were disabled?

The documents

Corrections

I have invited the State Bar of Georgia to identify any inaccuracy on this page. As of October 23, 2026, it has identified none.

27 Offers of Proof. Georgia Bar’s Top Lawyer Wrote “asserted.”