EMAIL RECEIVED · 2026-06-30
⚑ Grievance dismissed by the State Disciplinary Board
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Office of the General Counsel
104 Marietta St. NW, Suite 100 · Atlanta, GA 30303-2743 · 404-527-8720 · Fax 404-527-8744 ·
www.gabar.org
RUSSELL D. WILLARD
General Counsel
LORI ANDERSON
MERCEDES G. BALL
AUDREY BERGESON
LEIGH BURGESS
JAKARAH EVERETT
WILLIAM V. HEARNBURG, JR.
JAMES S. LEWIS
ANDREEA N. MORRISON
ADRIENNE D. NASH
WILLIAM D. NESMITH, III
JOHN J. SHIPTENKO
AIMEE SOBHANI
June 30, 2026
CONFIDENTIAL
Mr. ██████ ███████
██████████████
██████████████
Re: Grievance filed against Mr. James R. ████████, Jr., Bar #262317
Dear Mr. ███████:
Thank you for submitting your grievance to the Office of the General Counsel of the
State Bar of Georgia. We carefully reviewed the grievance you filed with our office
against attorney James R. ████████, Jr.
You allege that Mr. ████████ violated various Rules of Professional Conduct in
connection with a May 1, 2026 letter, including assertions that he improperly accused
you of unauthorized practice of law (UPL), used the possibility of criminal liability to
gain an advantage in a civil matter, failed to identify his client, delivered the
correspondence to multiple recipients, and failed to report alleged UPL conduct.
After review of the materials that you have submitted and the arguments that you
advance, it is the determination of this office that you have failed to satisfy the
elements that would sustain a referral of this matter to the State Disciplinary Board.
None of the rules cited by you, nor any other rules of the Georgia Rules of Professional
Conduct, appear to have been violated by Mr. ████████ in this matter based on the
record available to us and your own submissions.
Violations of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct must be proven by a “clear and
convincing evidence” standard, which while not at the level of “beyond a reasonable doubt” is
more than a mere preponderance of the evidence. Upon review of the information, we
determined that there is insufficient evidence presented that Mr. ████████’s conduct rose to
the level of violating the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct; therefore, our office must
dismiss the grievance.
Thank you.
Sincerely Yours,
Adrienne D. Nash
Grievance Counsel
cc: James R. ████████, Jr.
104 Marietta St. NW, Suite 100 · Atlanta, GA 30303-2743 · 404-527-8720 · Fax 404-527-8744 ·
www.gabar.org
RUSSELL D. WILLARD
General Counsel
LORI ANDERSON
MERCEDES G. BALL
AUDREY BERGESON
LEIGH BURGESS
JAKARAH EVERETT
WILLIAM V. HEARNBURG, JR.
JAMES S. LEWIS
ANDREEA N. MORRISON
ADRIENNE D. NASH
WILLIAM D. NESMITH, III
JOHN J. SHIPTENKO
AIMEE SOBHANI
June 30, 2026
CONFIDENTIAL
Mr. ██████ ███████
██████████████
██████████████
Re: Grievance filed against Mr. James R. ████████, Jr., Bar #262317
Dear Mr. ███████:
Thank you for submitting your grievance to the Office of the General Counsel of the
State Bar of Georgia. We carefully reviewed the grievance you filed with our office
against attorney James R. ████████, Jr.
You allege that Mr. ████████ violated various Rules of Professional Conduct in
connection with a May 1, 2026 letter, including assertions that he improperly accused
you of unauthorized practice of law (UPL), used the possibility of criminal liability to
gain an advantage in a civil matter, failed to identify his client, delivered the
correspondence to multiple recipients, and failed to report alleged UPL conduct.
After review of the materials that you have submitted and the arguments that you
advance, it is the determination of this office that you have failed to satisfy the
elements that would sustain a referral of this matter to the State Disciplinary Board.
None of the rules cited by you, nor any other rules of the Georgia Rules of Professional
Conduct, appear to have been violated by Mr. ████████ in this matter based on the
record available to us and your own submissions.
Violations of the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct must be proven by a “clear and
convincing evidence” standard, which while not at the level of “beyond a reasonable doubt” is
more than a mere preponderance of the evidence. Upon review of the information, we
determined that there is insufficient evidence presented that Mr. ████████’s conduct rose to
the level of violating the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct; therefore, our office must
dismiss the grievance.
Thank you.
Sincerely Yours,
Adrienne D. Nash
Grievance Counsel
cc: James R. ████████, Jr.
