Federal Court Rules Client's AI-Generated Materials Are Not Protected By Attorney-Client Privilege Or Work Product Doctrine

Are client queries with publicly available AI platforms shielded by the attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine? No, said the first court to consider this issue.

Background

In United States v. Heppner,¹ a criminal matter, District Judge Jed S. Rakoff ruled that defendant Benjamin Heppner's communications with Claude, private company Anthropic's AI platform, were not protected by either the attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine. After Heppner learned that he was the target of a federal securities and wire fraud investigation, he used a public version of Claude to prepare reports outlining possible defense strategies, including what he planned to argue with regard to the facts and law. Heppner used Claude of his own volition, without direction from his lawyers.