Rules of Court · Part 1 · New Jersey
RPC 5.1 New Jersey Rules of Court, RPC 5.1: Responsibilities of Partners, Supervisory Lawyers, and Law Firms, rendered as code with every cross-reference linked
Responsibilities of Partners, Supervisory Lawyers, and Law Firms
(a) Every law firm, government entity, and organization authorized by the Court Rules to practice law in this jurisdiction shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that member lawyers or lawyers otherwise participating in the organization's work undertake measures giving reasonable assurance that all lawyers conform to the Rules of Professional Conduct.
(b) A lawyer having direct supervisory authority over another lawyer shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that the other lawyer conforms to the Rules of Professional Conduct.
(c) A lawyer shall be responsible for another lawyer's violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct if:
(1) the lawyer orders or ratifies the conduct involved; or
(2) the lawyer having direct supervisory authority over the other lawyer knows of the conduct at a time when its consequences can be avoided or mitigated but fails to take reasonable remedial action.
(d) No law firm or lawyer on behalf of a law firm shall pay an assessment or make a contribution to a political organization or candidate, including but not limited to purchasing tickets for political party dinners or for other functions, from any of the firm's business accounts while a municipal court judge is associated with the firm as a partner, shareholder, director, of counsel, or associate or holds some other comparable status with the firm.
Note: Adopted July 12, 1984 to be effective September 10, 1984; caption and paragraph (a) amended November 17, 2003 to be effective January 1, 2004; new paragraph (d) adopted July 19, 2012 to be effective September 4, 2012.
Verbatim rule text, unmarked. Nothing here is a summary.
rule RPC 5.1 "Responsibilities of Partners, Supervisory Lawyers, and Law Firms" {
(a) Every law firm, government entity, and organization authorized by the Court Rules to practice law in this jurisdiction shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that member lawyers or lawyers otherwise participating in the organization's work undertake measures giving reasonable assurance that all lawyers conform to the Rules of Professional Conduct.
(b) A lawyer having direct supervisory authority over another lawyer shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that the other lawyer conforms to the Rules of Professional Conduct.
(c) A lawyer shall be responsible for another lawyer's violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct if:
(1) the lawyer orders or ratifies the conduct involved; or
(2) the lawyer having direct supervisory authority over the other lawyer knows of the conduct at a time when its consequences can be avoided or mitigated but fails to take reasonable remedial action.
(d) No law firm or lawyer on behalf of a law firm shall pay an assessment or make a contribution to a political organization or candidate, including but not limited to purchasing tickets for political party dinners or for other functions, from any of the firm's business accounts while a municipal court judge is associated with the firm as a partner, shareholder, director, of counsel, or associate or holds some other comparable status with the firm.
Note: Adopted July 12, 1984 to be effective September 10, 1984; caption and paragraph (a) amended November 17, 2003 to be effective January 1, 2004; new paragraph (d) adopted July 19, 2012 to be effective September 4, 2012.
}
referenced_by: none
source: njcourts.gov // verbatim; changed 2025-10-17; corpus harvested 2026-09-02← RPC 4.4 · RPC 5.2 → · RPC · all rules
The Rules of Court are a government edict and carry no copyright; the text above is the Judiciary’s own publication, unchanged. Structure, links and highlighting are ours and carry no legal weight. Read the rule on njcourts.gov before you rely on it; amendments take effect each September 1.