New Jersey Court Rules (2026)

New Jersey Rules of Court: Civil Practice

Part 4 of the New Jersey Rules of Court governing civil practice in the Law and Chancery Divisions of the Superior Court, including pleadings, motions, discovery, summary judgment, trials, judgments, and post-judgment relief.

Updated 2026 Edition

New Jersey Rules of Court: Rules of General Application

Part 1 of the Rules Governing the Courts of the State of New Jersey — rules applicable across all New Jersey courts, covering filing and service, motions, attorneys, time, subpoenas, contempt, and the Rules of Professional Conduct.

Updated 2026 Edition

New Jersey Rules of Court: Appellate Practice

Part 2 of the New Jersey Rules of Court governing practice in the Appellate Division of the Superior Court and the Supreme Court, including appeals, the record, briefs, motions, and emergent relief.

Updated 2026 Edition

New Jersey Rules of Court: Family Practice

Part 5 of the New Jersey Rules of Court governing family practice in the Chancery Division, Family Part — dissolution, custody and parenting time, support, domestic violence, adoption, and juvenile delinquency.

Updated 2026 Edition

New Jersey Rules of Court: Criminal Practice

Part 3 of the New Jersey Rules of Court governing criminal practice in the Superior Court, including indictments, pretrial procedure, discovery, pleas, trial, sentencing, and post-conviction relief.

Updated 2026 Edition

New Jersey Rules of Court: Municipal Court Practice

Part 7 of the New Jersey Rules of Court governing practice in the municipal courts, including complaints, process, pretrial and trial procedure, and appeals.

Updated 2026 Edition

New Jersey Rules of Court: Special Civil Part

Part 6 of the New Jersey Rules of Court governing the Special Civil Part of the Law Division — landlord-tenant, small claims, and other limited civil actions.

Updated 2026 Edition

New Jersey Rules of Court: Tax Court Practice

Part 8 of the New Jersey Rules of Court governing practice in the Tax Court of New Jersey, including complaints, case management, discovery, and review of state and local tax determinations.

Updated 2026 Edition

New Jersey Rules of Professional Conduct

The ethical duties of a New Jersey lawyer, adopted July 12, 1984 and effective September 10, 1984, cited "RPC 1.6" without a state prefix. New Jersey took the ABA Model Rules as its structure and then departed from them in ways that matter in practice. RPC 1.6 requires disclosure of confidential information where the lawyer reasonably believes it necessary to prevent the client from committing a criminal, illegal or fraudulent act likely to result in death, substantial bodily harm or substantial injury to the financial interest or property of another - a mandatory duty where the Model Rule is permissive. RPC 5.4 permits certain fee arrangements the Model Rules restrict, and RPC 7.1 and 7.2 govern advertising against a body of New Jersey advisory opinions. RPC 1.7 and 1.8 carry the state's own conflicts framework, and RPC 1.15 the trust accounting duties enforced through the Rules of Court. The rules are published by the Judiciary as an appendix to Part 1 of the Rules of Court and are enforced through R. 1:20, the attorney discipline rules, which remain in the general Rules of Court set.

New Jersey Rules of Evidence

New Jersey's evidence rules, adopted September 15, 1992 and effective July 1, 1993, cited "N.J.R.E. 403". They are numbered on the Federal Rules of Evidence but depart from them in ways that matter. The rules sit ALONGSIDE the evidence statutes rather than replacing them: N.J.R.E. 101(c) provides that adopting them does not repeal an existing statute by implication, though a statute expressly superseded under N.J.S.A. 2A:84A-40 by an official note appended to a rule has no further effect. Their reach is unusually wide -- Rule 101(a) applies them in all proceedings, civil, criminal, family, municipal or tax, and applies the privileges of Article V "without relaxation" to every branch and agency of government, not just to courts. Article V is the largest article here, codifying privileges New Jersey treats as statutory rather than common law and reserving Rules 520 through 529. On expert testimony, Rule 702 carries the Court's own 2026 Official Court Comment recording that the rule incorporates the reliability standard prescribed in In re Accutane Litigation, 234 N.J. 340 (2018). Three provisions were never adopted -- Rules 103, 1101 and 1102 -- and are shown as such.

Updated 2026 Edition