A recent ruling by the Southern District Court of New York sets a historical precedent for the use of generative AI platforms in the legal profession. The court found that a client’s prompts to a generative AI system and documents generated by AI to share with counsel are not protected by the attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine. The court reasoned that such platforms are not attorneys, nor are they confidential, and their terms of services allow for data and third-party disclosure. Hence, sharing privileged information with a publicly available generative AI system is equivalent to sharing it with any third party.
The message from this decision is to refrain from treating a publicly available AI system like a confidante, as doing so can waive privilege and expose sensitive information. For a closer look at the implications of the decision for clients and their counsel, we urge you to read the full legal update.