A lawyer shall not bring or defend a proceeding, or assert or controvert an issue therein, unless there is a basis in law and fact for doing so that is not frivolous, which includes a good faith argument for an extension, modification or reversal of existing law. A lawyer for the defendant in a criminal proceeding, or the respondent in a proceeding that could result in incarceration or institutionalization, may nevertheless so defend the proceeding as to require that every element of the case be established.
Ethics Committee Comment
Institutionalization is treated as comparable to incarceration for purposes of Rule 3.1.
2004 ABA Model Rule Comment
RULE 3.1 MERITORIOUS CLAIMS AND CONTENTIONS
[1] The advocate has a duty to use legal procedure f