A client's everyday AI usage may come back to haunt them
in future litigation. More and more, individuals and clients are
asking AI for legal advice on a regular basis, both before and
during litigation matters. Clients create inputs with factual
scenarios, documents, and other information, and query their AI
system on potential outcomes or with questions. Had the individual
been communicating those inquiries with an attorney, the
communications would be protected from discovery by the
attorney-client privilege. According to at least one recent
judicial decision, however, chats with AI have no such protection
and could be disclosed in subsequent litigation.
On February 10, 2026, Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the U.S. District
Court for the Southern District of New York delivered an oral bench
ruling concluding that materials generated through a publicly
available generative AI platform were not protected by
attorney-client privilege or the work-product doctrine.
