In a recent case out of a federal trial court in the Southern District of New York, United States v. Heppner, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 32697*, a client’s AI conversations were deemed unprotected by the attorney-client privilege.
What is the Attorney-Client Privilege?
The Attorney-client privilege is a foundational part of your legal representation. It is a privilege that you, as the client, own, that protects what you say to your attorney in private. The privilege is not absolute – as an example, your attorney would be obligated to break it if you tell your attorney that you intend to kill or do seriously bodily harm to someone, and what your estate-planning attorney may be able to relate what you told him or her if there is a challenge to your will. In most cases, however, what you say to your attorney will remain private, even after your death.
Attorney-client privilege can be waived in some ways – particularly if the privilege’s owner (you, the client) discloses any of what you discussed with the attorney to another person. As the Illinois Appellate Court discussed in Ross v. Illinois Central Railroad Co., disclosing information to a third party is inconsistent with the purpose of the privilege, to keep what is said to one’s attorney private.
United States v. Heppner
In November 2025, Bradley Heppner was charged with securities fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and falsifying corporate records. Heppner’s conduct involved allegedly defrauding more than $150 million with the use of false representations of corporate documents. Following his arrest on November 4, 2025, the FBI executed a search warrant at his home. While conducting the search, the FBI seized documents and electronic devices from Heppner’s home. One of the seized electronic devices contained memorialized communications Heppner made utilizing the AI platform “Claude”.
Heppner argued that his communication with the AI platform was privileged under the attorney-client relationship, as he was utilizing AI for outlining a “defense strategy” and legal analysis based on facts and law that were applicable to his case. He argued that he created the AI generated legal documents to have something to speak with his attorney about. However, Heppner generated this content on his own, without the knowledge or consent of his attorney.
The government counterargued that AI generated material is not protected under the attorney- client relationship, and that Heppner’s actions had waived the privilege of confidentiality.
The district court agreed with the government and allowed the communications with Claude to be admitted into evidence. Claude is not an attorney, and as the court in Heppner put it “the discussion of legal issues between two non-attorneys is not protected by attorney-client privilege.” The court also drew attention to the lack of privacy in communications with Claude,
noting that the privacy policy on Anthropic’s website states that communications with their chatbots may be disclosed to third parties, even the government.
What does this mean for individuals in Illinois?
While a court in Illinois is not bound by the decision of United States v. Heppner, it is likely that if faced with the same facts, an Illinois court would come to the same conclusion. Clients should take caution before disclosing details of their case to AI chat programs.
Information given to an AI chat program is not protected, and therefore obtainable by the other party in litigation. While the Court in Heppner did not hold that the talking to the AI was a complete waiver of the attorney client privilege, it did find that the information conveyed would remain unprotected, even if it was also discussed with the attorney.
Beyond the legal ramifications, experts agree that there are serious privacy concerns with AI tools. Never upload any sensitive information like bank or medical records to an AI chatbot, as information put into an AI system like OpenAI’s ChatGPT becomes a part of its data set.
The Takeaway
AI Chat programs are not attorneys and cannot give anyone legal advice. Only licensed attorneys can offer legal advice and protection of Attorney-Client Privilege. At Storm & Piscopo, P.C., our trained team of attorneys can help with a wide variety of matters, and, unlike an AI platform, we will keep your information confidential in accordance with the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct.
Written by: Colman Gillis and David Aguillar
Law Clerks – Storm & Piscopo, P.C.