Federal Court Rules that a Litigant’s AI Materials Are Protected Work Product
A federal magistrate judge in Michigan ruled that a pro se plaintiff’s AI-generated litigation materials are protected by the work product doctrine, and that using ChatGPT does not waive that protection. The decision creates a direct split with the Southern District of New York’s ruling in United States v. Heppner on the same issue, issued on the very same day.
Federal Court Rules that a Client's AI Conversations Are Not Privileged
On February 10, 2026, Judge Jed Rakoff of the Southern District of New York ruled that documents a criminal defendant generated using Anthropic's Claude AI are neither protected by the attorney-client privilege nor the work product doctrine.