New Jersey (statewide): New Jersey Supreme Court Notice to the Bar: Preliminary Guideline…
Chief Justice Stuart Rabner and Glenn A. Grant, J.A.D., Acting Administrative Director of the Courts (notice issued by the Supreme Court of New Jersey) · Supreme Court of New Jersey
Verified September 30, 2026
- Citation
- New Jersey Supreme Court Notice to the Bar: Preliminary Guidelines on the Use of Artificial Intelligence by New Jersey Lawyers
- Order date
- January 24, 2024
Status and scope
No AI-specific filing obligation: in force, but it imposes no disclosure, verification, or use restriction on attorney filings beyond existing rules. It provides: Because AI can generate false information, a lawyer has an ethical duty to check and verify all information generated by AI to ensure that it is accurate; failure to do so may violate RPC 3.1, 4.1(a)(1), and 8.4(c).
What the instrument provides
- Because AI can generate false information, a lawyer has an ethical duty to check and verify all information generated by AI to ensure that it is accurate; failure to do so may violate RPC 3.1, 4.1(a)(1), and 8.4(c).
- A lawyer who uses AI to prepare pleadings, arguments, or evidence remains responsible for the validity of those submissions (RPC 3.3); the RPCs do not require a lawyer to disclose the use of AI.
- A lawyer is responsible for ensuring the security of an AI system before entering any non-public client information (RPC 1.6).
- A lawyer must tell a client about AI use if the client asks, or if the client cannot make an informed decision about the representation without knowing (RPC 1.2, 1.4).
- Law firms and supervising lawyers must ensure the ethical use of AI by other lawyers and nonlawyer staff (RPC 5.1, 5.2, 5.3).
Practice areas: state civil, state criminal, state family, state probate
Scope
These guidelines apply to all licensed New Jersey attorneys. The Supreme Court called them preliminary and made them effective immediately. They remain the statewide framework for attorney AI use in New Jersey; the Court’s March 30, 2026 notice on firm AI policies builds on them.
What the guidelines say
The Notice to the Bar is dated January 24, 2024. A later notice dated June 11, 2024 summarized the Judiciary’s survey of New Jersey attorneys on generative AI and announced no-cost CLE programs; it did not revise the guidelines. The guidelines tie AI use to the existing New Jersey Rules of Professional Conduct rather than imposing a separate disclosure-and-certification regime:
- Accuracy and truthfulness (RPC 3.1, 4.1(a)(1), 8.4(c)): Because AI can generate false information, a lawyer has an ethical duty to check and verify all information generated by AI.
- Candor (RPC 3.3): A lawyer who uses AI to prepare pleadings, arguments, or evidence remains responsible for the validity of those submissions.
- Confidentiality (RPC 1.6): A lawyer is responsible for ensuring the security of an AI system before entering any non-public client information.
- Misconduct, including discrimination (RPC 8.4(c), (d), (g)): The duty to avoid misconduct applies to AI use.
- Client communication (RPC 1.2, 1.4): The RPCs do not require telling clients every time AI is used, but a lawyer must inform the client if the client asks, or if the client cannot make an informed decision about the representation without knowing.
- Oversight (RPC 5.1, 5.2, 5.3): Firms and supervising lawyers must ensure the ethical use of AI by other lawyers and nonlawyer staff.
What the guidelines do not impose
The guidelines do not require disclosure of AI use in court filings, a separate certification block on briefs, or a ban on any class of AI tools. They state that “the RPCs do not require a lawyer to disclose the use of AI,” but that “such use does not provide an excuse for the submission of false, fake, or misleading content.”
Practitioner workflow
For New Jersey state-court matters, no disclosure block is required in filings. Firms may wish to document an internal AI use policy that addresses the RPC-based obligations above, keep records of training and verification steps, and confirm that their AI tools meet the confidentiality expectations of RPC 1.6. The June 11, 2024 notice reports survey results and CLE plans; it does not change the guidelines.
Primary source
Notice (Jan 24, 2024): https://www.njcourts.gov/sites/default/files/notices/2024/01/n240125a.pdf
Survey and CLE Notice (Jun 11, 2024): https://www.njcourts.gov/sites/default/files/notices/2024/06/n240612a.pdf
Landing page: https://www.njcourts.gov/attorneys/artificial-intelligence-use-courts
Sanctions cases decided under this order
Cases in our tracker where this rule appears to have produced or directly informed the sanctions decision.
- Amtrust North America o/b/o Justin McGinness v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company , Mar 2026 ($1,000)