Partner Matthew D. Dunn of the firm’s Cybersecurity and Data Privacy practice writes for the New York Law Journal.
The recent United States v. Heppner case highlights that inputs and outputs from public AI tools are not automatically confidential and may not be protected by attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine. The court ruled that AI communications created independently by clients and shared with lawyers do not qualify for these protections if not made directly to or at the instruction of legal counsel. This underscores the importance of understanding AI platform privacy policies and security, and the need for legal guidance when using AI for legal strategies.