The Moving Target. A running log of the State Bar of Georgia’s stated position on whether the ADA applies to it. Each entry is the Bar’s own words, with the date.
May 12, 2026.
Eight days after one State Bar of Georgia official granted my disability accommodations, another wrote that the Bar is “not a public entity” and “not required to have a published ADA Coordinator.”
On May 4, the ADA Coordinator, John J. Shiptenko, granted written-only communication and accessible-format documents, and wrote that the Bar wanted me to have “the same rights and opportunities as non-disabled grievants.”
On May 12, Deputy General Counsel William D. NeSmith III answered the access correspondence differently. He wrote:
“The State Bar of Georgia is not a public entity… therefore we are not required to have a published ADA Coordinator.”
He went further, commenting on whether I needed accommodation at all:
“it does not appear that you require assistance in preparing written submissions.”
My ADA request “may be directed less toward obtaining accommodation for a functional limitation and more toward securing a particular substantive outcome.”
That message was sent to me alone, with the institutional copy list removed. The same email also confirmed the accommodations the Bar had already granted. Both cannot sit easily together: an institution that grants accommodations and promises the same rights as non-disabled grievants, while writing that it is not covered at all.
I responded the same day, restored the full copy list the message had stripped, and requested a substantive response by the May 14 deadline.
The documents
| Date / Time | Direction | From | To / Cc | Document | Attachment | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 4, 2026 | Received | John J. Shiptenko | the complainant | Accommodations granted | None | Granted written-only communication and accessible format; “the same rights and opportunities as non-disabled grievants.” |
| May 12, 2026, 2:12 PM | Received | William D. NeSmith III | the complainant (only) | Title II denial | None | “not a public entity”; “not required to have a published ADA Coordinator”; the institutional cc list removed. |
| May 12, 2026, 6:37 PM | Received | William D. NeSmith III | the complainant (only) | Meeting offer | None | A one-line “I am available at 11.30 only,” sent to the complainant alone. |
| May 12, 2026, 3:40 PM | Sent | the complainant | NeSmith + full leadership | Response restoring the record | Response (PDF) | Restored the full institutional copy list and requested a substantive response by May 14. |
The questions still open
Is the State Bar subject to Title II, yes or no, and who speaks for the Bar on that question? See The Unanswered Questions.
Read the record: the full State Bar of Georgia record, and this day on the Timeline.
Status: the Bar granted accommodations and, in the same period, denied that it is covered by the ADA; the question of coverage remained disputed.
Corrections: this site is built from the documents I received. If any fact here is incomplete or inaccurate, identify the page, the sentence, and the supporting document, and I will review and correct the record.
Versión en español
[ JR: escribe aquí ]
If you have been through something like this, you are not imagining it, and you are not alone.
Patterns on this page: accommodation-then-undermined, stripped-cc, two-tier. Each is a recurring pattern in the State Bar record. We are noting the timing, not asserting a reason.