State Bar of Georgia Told 3 Audiences 3 Different Things

On May 12, 2026, the State Bar of Georgia gave three different accounts of itself to three different audiences. Here they are, in its own words, side by side.

The short answer

On May 12, 2026, the State Bar of Georgia wrote to a disabled dad that it is “not a public entity” and need not publish an ADA Coordinator. Twenty three minutes later, its ADA Coordinator told the State of Georgia’s ADA Coordinator that it was “adding ADA information to our website and various forms.” The same day, its lawyers told a federal court it is “the administrative arm of the Georgia Supreme Court.”

Scoreboard, as of October 23, 2026

Audiences the State Bar of Georgia wrote to about its ADA status on May 12, 2026	3
Minutes between “not required to have a published ADA Coordinator” (to me) and “adding ADA information to our website” (to the State)	23
gabar.org pages that carry ADA information today	0
Times the State Bar of Georgia told me it was adding ADA information	0

Three audiences, one day

Time, May 12, 2026	To whom	What the State Bar of Georgia said
2:12 PM	Me, a disabled dad, from William D. NeSmith III, Deputy General Counsel	“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.”
2:35 PM	The State of Georgia’s ADA Coordinator, Stacey Peace, from John J. Shiptenko, Senior Assistant General Counsel	“The information you provided was helpful, and we are in the process of adding ADA information to our website and various forms.”
Same day	A federal court, in a brief filed for the State Bar of Georgia’s Office of the General Counsel (Document 46)	“As the administrative arm of the Georgia Supreme Court, Defendants are entitled to qualified immunity.”

At 3:09 PM the same day, the State of Georgia’s ADA Coordinator answered the State Bar of Georgia: “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”.

What happened

I am a disabled dad. I like dogs, donuts and dad jokes. I also like it when people tell me the same thing they tell everyone else.

On May 12, 2026, at 2:12 PM, the State Bar of Georgia told me it does not have to publish an ADA Coordinator, because it is not a public entity.

Twenty three minutes later, it told the State of Georgia’s own ADA Coordinator that her information “was helpful,” and that it was “in the process of adding ADA information to our website and various forms.”

Nobody told me that. Not that day. Not ever.

And the same day, its lawyers told a federal court it is “the administrative arm of the Georgia Supreme Court.”

So: to me, private, nothing to publish. To the State, helpful advice, ADA information on the way. To the court, an arm of the Supreme Court.

Is this how they would treat their own brother if he were disabled?

Then the federal case went on. On September 28, 2026, the State Bar of Georgia’s lawyers told the same court: “As shown above, by statute and judicial decisions, the State Bar and its employees are state actors.” And, about the email the State Bar of Georgia sent me on May 12: “The definition provided by state law is what is important, not what is said in an email.”

Not what is said in an email. That email was sent to a disabled man, under the subject line “ADA response.”

What the State Bar of Georgia actually added, and where

New grievance forms marked “Revised 06/2026” carry: “IF YOU HAVE A DISABILITY THAT PREVENTS YOU FROM COMPLETING THIS FORM AND NEED TO REQUEST AN ACCOMMODATION, PLEASE EMAIL: ADACoordinator@gabar.org”. The files are dated July 2026. They were first seen live on September 23, 2026.
The online grievance portal added a “Need an accommodation?” box, with filing by “voice activation or speech-to-text software.” Internet Archive captures show it was not there on September 23, 2026 and was there by September 28, 2026. That was the week after I asked John J. Shiptenko, on September 19, whether he was still my ADA Coordinator.
gabar.org itself: no page carries ADA information, in any capture from September 2024 to today. Its “File a Grievance” page did not use the letters ADA once on October 23, 2026. No form or page names a person.

Then, on October 8, 2026, the same ADA Coordinator wrote to me that I had made “no request that can properly be classified as a request for an accommodation.” On October 21, 2026, the General Counsel called my requests “informational demands and other litigation-related threats.”

They added voice filing and an ADA email line. Then they told me I never asked.

What I allege

I allege that on May 12, 2026, at 2:12 PM, William D. NeSmith III wrote to me that the State Bar of Georgia is “not a public entity” and is “not required to have a published ADA Coordinator.”
I allege that on May 12, 2026, at 2:35 PM, John J. Shiptenko wrote to Stacey Peace, State ADA Coordinator, that the State Bar of Georgia was “in the process of adding ADA information to our website and various forms,” and that no one at the State Bar of Georgia told me so.
I allege that on May 12, 2026, a brief filed in federal court for the State Bar of Georgia’s Office of the General Counsel said it is “the administrative arm of the Georgia Supreme Court,” and that on September 28, 2026, the State Bar’s lawyers told the court that “the State Bar and its employees are state actors.”
That is hard to square with telling a disabled person, the same day, that it is “not a public entity.”
On the face of the documents, the State Bar of Georgia added an ADA email line to its forms and an accommodation box to its grievance portal after my requests, and as of October 23, 2026, none of it names a person or appears on gabar.org.
It appears to me that the State Bar of Georgia told each audience what that audience needed to hear. If that is not the reason, they are welcome to tell me what is.
In my opinion, telling the State it was adding ADA access while telling a federally protected claimant he made “no request” is not okay.
I am left to wonder whether anyone at the State Bar of Georgia planned to tell the disabled person who asked.

Why I keep going

I answer to the court of public opinion. In that court, a disabled person gets to hear the same answer the State and the judge got. 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. As of October 12, 2026, the renewed motion to dismiss (Document 46) had not been ruled on.

Named is not trained. And telling the State is not telling the person who asked.

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.

Georgia Bar to State ADA Office: We’re Adding ADA Help. To Me: Not a Public Entity. To a Court: Arm of the State.