United States: Disclosure & Electronic Discovery & Privilege

For three years, we have been writing about Oracle’s Java licensing enforcement as a slow-motion campaign — one that began with “friendly” compliance emails, continued through a series of escalating sales-team...

A federal court in New York has ruled that communications between a criminal defendant and a publicly available AI chatbot are not protected by attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine.

A federal court ruling in United States v. Heppner has established that using consumer AI chatbots to generate legal strategy documents can destroy attorney-client privilege, even if those documents are later shared with counsel. The decision highlights how third-party AI platforms' data collection practices and terms of service may eliminate the confidentiality required for privilege protection, creating significant discovery risks for individuals and organizations seeking legal guidance through artificial