RPC 3.1 New Jersey Rules of Court, RPC 3.1: Meritorious Claims and Contentions, rendered as code with every cross-reference linked

rule RPC 3.1 "Meritorious Claims and Contentions" {
A lawyer shall not bring or defend a proceeding, nor assert or controvert an issue therein unless the lawyer knows or reasonably believes that there is a basis in law and fact for doing so that is not frivolous, which includes a good faith argument for an extension, modification, or reversal of existing law, or the establishment of new law. A lawyer for the defendant in a criminal proceeding, or the respondent in a proceeding that could result in incarceration, may nevertheless so defend the proceeding as to require that every element of the case be established.
Note: Adopted July 12, 1984 to be effective September 10, 1984; amended November 17, 2003 to be effective January 1, 2004.
}
referenced_by: none
source: njcourts.gov // verbatim; changed 2025-10-17; corpus harvested 2026-09-02