As of October 17, 2026. Times are Eastern.
On May 12, 2026, William D. NeSmith III, Deputy General Counsel, State Bar of Georgia, told this disabled dad the Bar is “not a public entity” and need not publish an ADA Coordinator. The same day, the Bar’s lawyers filed a federal motion built on the Bar being an arm of the State. The filings are below.
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.
William D. NeSmith III, May 12, 2026, 2:12 PM, to me alone
Part 1 of 2 · Part 2
Double Talk, Filed the Same Day:
At 2:12 PM on May 12, 2026, William D. NeSmith III wrote me: “The State Bar of Georgia is not a public entity, such as a federal, state or local government department or agency.” He finished the thought: “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.”
The same day, May 12, 2026, lawyers for the State Bar defendants, including the Office of the General Counsel where he works, filed Document 46 in Mignott, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, No. 1:23-cv-01834. They told the court the Eleventh Amendment “prohibits actions against state courts and state bars,” quoting a 1993 federal appeals ruling, and they quoted a 1992 ruling: “[t]he Georgia Supreme Court is an arm of the State of Georgia. The State Bar is an arm of the Georgia Supreme Court.”
One Bar. One Tuesday. To a disabled dad asking for ADA access: not a public entity. To a federal judge: an arm of the State.
What He Told Me, and What the Bar Told the Court:
His words are on the left. The Bar’s lawyers’ words, in the Bar’s own voice, are on the right, each with its document number and filing date.
| William D. NeSmith III to me, May 12, 2026, 2:12 PM | The State Bar’s lawyers to the federal court |
|---|---|
| “The State Bar of Georgia is not a public entity, such as a federal, state or local government department or agency.” | “since all are, and acted as, arms of the State.” (Doc. 52, p. 3, note 6, filed June 9, 2026) |
| “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.” | “For factor 2, the State of Georgia controls the State Bar.” (Doc. 54, p. 5, filed September 28, 2026) |
| “Although the State Bar serves as an administrative arm of the Supreme Court of Georgia pursuant to the Court’s authority over the regulation of the legal profession, it nevertheless remains a private, member-funded, and member-governed organization.” | “For factor 2, the State, through the Georgia Supreme Court, controls the State Bar and its agents and employees.” (Doc. 52, p. 4, filed June 9, 2026) |
| “The State Bar receives no federal, state, or local governmental funding.” | “While the State Bar is funded by member dues, not the State, the Court’s analysis of this factor does not end there.” (Doc. 52, pp. 4 to 5, filed June 9, 2026) |
| “I am responding on behalf of the State Bar of Georgia” | “The State Bar is a state actor.” (Doc. 54, p. 9, filed September 28, 2026) |
| “I trust this correspondence adequately explains the position of the State Bar of Georgia.” | “As shown above, by statute and judicial decisions, the State Bar and its employees are state actors.” (Doc. 54, p. 9, filed September 28, 2026) |
His email itself calls the Bar “an administrative arm of the Supreme Court of Georgia.” The difference is what each audience was told that arm means.
Then the Bar’s Lawyers Called the Email “purporting”:
On September 28, 2026, in Document 54, the State Bar defendants’ lawyers at Nall & Miller, LLP described the May 12 email in that record as “an email purporting to be from State Bar employee William NeSmith” (p. 3). They called it an “unauthenticated email” (pp. 4 and 9). They wrote: “The definition provided by state law is what is important, not what is said in an email.” (p. 5). And: “Again, comments in an email in the context of a member of the public asking about accommodations pursuant to the Americans With Disabilities Act have no relevance to this matter.” (p. 6).
I am the member of the public. I asked about accommodations. I hold his original May 12 email, headers and all. It opens: “I write in response to your email and attached correspondence directed to Mr. John Shiptenko.”
The State ADA Office Heard a Different Version:
My emails to the Bar copied the State ADA Coordinator’s Office. His May 12 email to me did not. The State ADA Coordinator’s Office got the Bar’s status passage another way.
At 2:35 PM on May 12, 2026, twenty three minutes after his email to me, John J. Shiptenko, Senior Assistant General Counsel, State Bar of Georgia, wrote to Stacey Peace, State ADA Coordinator. John J. Shiptenko’s status sentences match William D. NeSmith III’s nearly word for word, with one difference at the end. William D. NeSmith III’s version to me ends “therefore we are not required to have a published ADA Coordinator.” John J. Shiptenko’s version to the State ADA Coordinator ends “The State Bar of Georgia is not a department or agency of the State of Georgia.” The ADA Coordinator clause is not in the version the Bar sent the State’s ADA office. That office saw his clause only because I forwarded his email at 2:37 PM, with that office copied.
At 3:09 PM Stacey Peace answered: “I am not exactly sure if the 11th circuit has been asked to rule specifically on this question as it relates to the State Bar of Georgia; however, there are instances where State Bars have been held to be Title II entities under the ADA due to State Bars serving as administrative arms of state supreme courts or state governments”.
I was not copied on that exchange. I first saw it in the State’s September 22, 2026 records production.
Five days earlier, on May 7, 2026, John J. Shiptenko had written to me, copied to William D. NeSmith III: “A public entity can have numerous ADA coordinators.” And: “I am one of the designated ADA Coordinators, and for many of the programs, services, or activities, I serve as the ADA Coordinator.”
Part 1 of 2 · Part 2