(a) A lawyer shall not knowingly

(1) make a false statement of material fact or law to a tribunal;

(2) fail to disclose a material fact to a tribunal when disclosure is necessary to avoid assisting an illegal, criminal or fraudulent act by the client;

(3) fail to disclose to the tribunal legal authority in the controlling jurisdiction known to the lawyer to be directly adverse to the position of the client and not disclosed by opposing counsel;

(4) offer evidence that the lawyer knows to be false. If a lawyer has offered material evidence and comes to know of its falsity, the lawyer shall take reasonable remedial measures; or

(5) fail to diselose to the tribunal a material fact with knowledge that the tribunal may tend to be inisled by such failure.

(b) The duties stated in paragraph (a) continue to the conclusion of the proceeding, and apply even if compliance requires disclosure of information otherwise protected by RPC 1.6.

(c) A lawyer may refuse to offer evidence that the lawyer reasonably believes is false.

(d) In an ex parte proceeding, a lawyer shall inforin the tribunal of all relevant facts known to the lawyer that should be disclosed to permit the tribunal to make an informed decision, whether or not the facts are adverse.

Comment to RPC 3.3

The Court has made two revisions to ABA Model Rule 3.3, which rule the Debevoise Committee recommended for adoption. One, the provisions of subparagraph (a)(2) are made applicable to "illegal" acts by clients, not just "criminal" and "fraudulent" acts. And, two, subparagraph (a)(5) has been added, which provides that attorneys shall not fail to disclose material facts that are likely to mislead the tribunal if counsel were to remain silent. This applies both to facts that are at issue in the case as well as facts relating to the management of the case. An attorney has an obligation to be candid and act with good faith toward the tribunal. See, e.g., In re Nigohosian, 88 N.J. 308 (1982); In re Herbstman, 84 N.J. 485 (1980); In re Turner, 83 N.J. 536 (1980).

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