Who they are
John J. Shiptenko is a Senior Assistant General Counsel in the State Bar of Georgia Office of the General Counsel. He designated himself the ADA contact for this matter, then reversed the position behind it. The State Bar lists him as Senior Assistant General Counsel in its staff directory.
Why they are on this page
Facts only. What they did or did not do, each with a document behind it.
- On May 4, 2026 he granted two accommodations and offered to postpone the reconsideration until after surgery and recovery.
- On May 26 he ran the interactive process while routing ten of fifteen consolidated questions to the official who had denied coverage.
- On May 29 he reversed, writing the Bar is not subject to Title II. On June 18 he acknowledged the grievance against him with one word.
Timeline
Every email they sent, were sent, or were copied on, in order, each linked to the item. Where a read receipt was captured, the time is shown. Chronology, not motive.
| Date | Role | What it was | Read it |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 4, 2026 | He sent | The accommodations grant. “The State Bar wants to ensure that you have the same rights and opportunities as non-disabled grievants.” | Read it |
| May 7, 2026 | He sent | The self-designation. “Since Ms. Nash is handling your reconsideration, I am serving as your ADA Coordinator.” | Read it |
| May 20, 2026 | He sent | The courtesy-copy reply. “I received it as a courtesy copy. You can contact Ms. Nash directly to verify her receipt.” | Read it |
| May 26, 2026 | He sent | The interactive-process email and the question-sort routing ten of fifteen questions to the official who denied coverage. | Read it |
| May 29, 2026 | He sent | The reversal. “the State Bar’s position remains that it is not subject to Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act.” | Read it |
| June 17, 2026 | He sent | The voice-to-text reply. “we are happy to accommodate you by accepting a grievance document generated with your existing voice-to-text tool.” | Read it |
| June 18, 2026 | He sent | The one-word acknowledgment of the grievance against him. “Received.” | Read it |
| June 30, 2026 | He received | The dismissal of the grievance against him. | Read it |
The complaint we filed
On June 17, 2026 we filed a grievance against Mr. Shiptenko. Why: the official who granted accommodations under the ADA later disclaimed that the law applied, routed questions to the official who denied coverage, and treated the acceptance of an accessible filing as a favor. Read the filing.
Their clearance
On June 30, 2026 the Bar dismissed that grievance, signed by Jeffrey W. DeLoach, Chair of the State Disciplinary Board, in a single paragraph. It was one of several matters closed that same day, each in a one paragraph letter. Read the dismissal.
The dismissal came at the screening gate, the first threshold a grievance has to pass. No investigation was opened. A screening dismissal means that, taking every fact in the complaint as true, the Bar decided the conduct was not even worth examining. Guilty or not, the Bar’s position is that these actions are not worth a look.