Law is one of the few professions that self-regulates its practice, and we have a strict set of ethical standards codified in the New Jersey Rules of Professional Conduct to uphold. As such, we must hold not only ourselves to high standards but also our adversaries.

In the heat of litigation, you may encounter an ethical dilemma with your client or an adversary, and the action you take can result in a grievance filed against you, or you may have to consider filing a complaint against opposing counsel. Would you know how to handle an ethical issue in your practice? For example, what course of action do you take when an adversary submits evidence during motion practice that you know is altered? How do you respond when your client asks you to lie about a material fact in a complaint? Will it result in an ethics violation? As a practicing attorney, you will face difficult ethical dilemmas, but there are resources you can rely on to hunt down the answers you need to move forward.

  1. Read the Rules. As a first step, you always should consult the New Jersey Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) for guidance. The rules can be found on the New Jersey Court’s website under the subheading “Attorneys.”
  1. Read Opinions Interpreting the Rules. As you would when researching any legal question, you should review opinions interpreting the RPCs. You can consult the Rutgers Law Library website where you can find opinions of the New Jersey Supreme Court’s Ethics Committee interpreting the rules. Here is the web address for your reference: http://njlaw.rutgers.edu/collections/ethics/search.php
  1. Consult the New Jersey Attorney Ethics-Annotated.The annotations will point you to relevant opinions and case law on a specific rule of professional conduct.
  1. Talk With Your Firm’s Ethics Partner. Most firms assign at least one partner as an ethics partner, and that partner’s role is to help navigate ethical issues. You should use this partner as a resource and consult this partner proactively before taking action on an ethical question.
  1. Phone an Expert. The Office of Attorney Ethics (OAE) may be able to assist you with your inquiry, but only if it is about your conduct and not the conduct of another attorney. The OAE assists and manages 18 district ethics committees. Each committee handles the investigation of grievances filed against attorneys in its district. The OAE has established a hotline to answer attorneys’ questions, but it is only authorized to speak with lawyers about their own conduct and will not advise attorneys on the conduct of another attorney.
  1. Enroll in Continuing Education. At a minimum, New Jersey attorneys are required to complete four credits in ethics every 24 months. Keeping up to date on ethical considerations in your field will help you avoid ethical minefields.