Trenton, NJ – New Jersey officials released internal ethics training materials for government lawyers after a public records battle that forced a transparency organization to sue, lose in trial court, win on appeal, and continue litigation before the documents were finally turned over without redactions.
The records center on a New Jersey Attorney General’s Advocacy Institute course titled “Ethically and Effectively Representing State Agencies,” which the Association for Governmental Responsibility, Ethics and Transparency, known as AGREAT, sought through a public records request filed in May 2024.
State officials initially refused to release the materials, arguing the documents could expose attorney work product, internal legal strategies, and privileged government legal operations. After the Appellate Division revived AGREAT’s lawsuit and ordered further review, the state ultimately released the records in full earlier this month.
State Released Records After Prolonged Court Fight
AGREAT announced the outcome Thursday, calling the release a victory for government transparency and public accountability.
“This is a complete vindication of AGREAT’s persistence,” said attorney Donald F. Burke Jr., counsel for the organization. “The State forced AGREAT to sue, argue, lose, appeal, and win — only to release the very records it should have produced from the start.”
The organization argued the public had a right to understand how New Jersey trains government attorneys to ethically represent state agencies.
According to AGREAT, the released training materials include guidance on:
- organization-as-client ethics rules
- communications with represented and unrepresented individuals
- litigation holds
- service of process
- requests for legal representation
- sanctions reporting
- settlement authority
- Division of Law internal policies
The records were ultimately produced without any redactions.
“The State claimed these materials were too sensitive to release,” Burke said. “Then, after AGREAT won on appeal, it released them without a single redaction. That speaks louder than any legal brief.”
Key Points
• New Jersey released internal ethics training materials after AGREAT won an appellate court challenge
• The state initially argued the records were protected under OPRA exemptions and legal privilege claims
• AGREAT accused the state of using public resources to hide ethics training materials from the public
State Maintained Records Were Exempt
Despite releasing the documents, the New Jersey Division of Law continued defending its legal position in a May 4 letter sent to Burke.
Deputy Attorney General Daniel W. Knox wrote that the state still believed the training materials were exempt from disclosure under the Open Public Records Act, related regulations, and case law.
“The State Defendants maintain that these training materials are exempt from public disclosure under the Open Public Records Act (OPRA),” Knox wrote, adding that the records “may reveal privileged attorney work product and case or matter specific legal strategy or advice.”
The letter also stated the state believed the materials were protected under common law access standards because New Jersey has “a significant interest in protecting its internal legal work and services.”
Even so, the state chose to release the records “in the interest of amicably resolving this matter and preserving judicial resources.”
Burke sharply criticized that explanation.
“That explanation only highlights the waste,” Burke said. “The State could have preserved judicial resources by complying with the law at the beginning. Instead, it delayed transparency, consumed public resources, and forced unnecessary litigation.”
AGREAT Calls Case a Test of Government Transparency
AGREAT framed the case as a broader example of why public records litigation remains necessary in New Jersey.
“The State acted unethically in trying to keep secret how it trains its lawyers to act ethically,” Burke said. “A course called ‘Ethically and Effectively Representing State Agencies’ should not have become a case study in government secrecy.”
The organization also rejected the idea that the records became public because officials voluntarily embraced transparency.
“This did not happen because the State suddenly embraced openness,” Burke said. “It happened because AGREAT refused to give up.”
The dispute unfolded under New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act, commonly known as OPRA, which allows residents and organizations to request government documents but includes exemptions tied to legal privilege, investigations, and internal government operations.
Transparency advocates have increasingly challenged broad interpretations of those exemptions in court, particularly in cases involving internal state communications and legal materials.
The state indicated it would notify the court that in-camera judicial review of the documents was no longer necessary following the release.
