On Point with Juandolyn Stoke welcomed Attorney Marsha Mignott who represented herself in an ethics case against the Georgia State Bar and she won! Mignott was on the hook for a one-year suspension from the Georgia State Bar, except they were unable to successfully prove their case against her.
“The state bar is an apartheid system. This is a construct; when it was put in place Black attorneys were not included,” she said.
The Georgia Supreme Court case ruled that Mignott did not violate the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct when she used information from a prospective client against them in a subsequent case.
In fact, a special master for the state bar initially recommended a two-year suspension, but later agreed to one year after a recommendation by the Disciplinary Review Board.
“I did not violate any rules; they violated the rules,” said Mignott.
For this, she endured five years of public, and private ridicule.
“[Blacks in the legal field] have experienced regression, but too many are focused on unimportant things like the latest cars, trips, and parties to notice,” Mignott added.
The action by the State Bar has led Mignott to pursue a class action lawsuit against them due to the disparities in treatment between white attorneys and Black attorneys.
“They would never do this to a white attorney,” she said.
According to Mignott, Black attorneys have become complacent; we have an attorney of color or a judge of color and we think we have arrived.
The state bar is still waiting on a ruling in their motion to dismiss in the class action suit Mignott filed in April.
“It has been the grace of God that has kept me. On the days when other Black female attorneys were criticizing me, God has kept me, said Mignott.
To reach Attorney Mignott at the Mignott Law Group, please call: 770-621-5499.