In re: client use of public AI · 2026
Your clients are already using ChatGPT.
And courts have started ordering those conversations produced. CounselRoom gives your clients a firm-controlled room instead: AI gathers the facts of their matter under your supervision, on a record you would be glad to defend.
- Invite-only
- Attorney-supervised
- On the record
The record so far
Two courts. One line.
Clients paste demand letters, contracts, and their entire settlement posture into consumer chatbots. In 2026, courts began deciding what happens when the other side asks for those conversations. The line they are drawing turns on a single question: who was holding the tool.
United States v. Heppner
A represented defendant used a consumer AI tool, on his own initiative, to generate about thirty documents mapping his defense, then handed them to his lawyers. Because he worked alone and outside his representation, and the tool's consumer terms let the provider keep and disclose what he typed, the court held the documents were protected by neither attorney-client privilege nor work product.
What the court examinedWarner v. Gilbarco, Inc.
The same month, a court protected a self-represented plaintiff's AI-assisted preparation, holding that generative AI programs are tools, not persons, so using one does not waive work product. The difference from Heppner was not the tool. It was that she was her own advocate, and he was a represented client working alone.
Follow the docketPlain-language summaries of public court decisions, for information only. This is not legal advice.
The room
Same conversation. Different record.
A public chatbot
“Here is our demand letter and the promissory note. What are the weaknesses in our position?”
Retained by the provider. Usable for training. Reachable in discovery.
See Exhibit A, above.
CounselRoom
Same documents. Same questions. Inside the representation, in a room your firm controls.
- 10:42 · supervising attorney joined the matter
- 10:44 · fact F-12 recorded, labeled Unverified
- 11:02 · fact F-12 reviewed by attorney
Click the label. That approval is the product.
- audit · invitation issued, single-use, by firm admin
- audit · AI intake session opened under attorney supervision
- audit · export generated: 14 facts attorney-approved, 2 marked Unverified
Every material action is on the record, with a name and a time against it.
How it works
From client story to reviewable record.
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Invite your client
Your firm issues a single-use invitation. The client joins a private room tied to the matter. There is no public signup, and there is no anonymous door. -
The AI gathers facts under supervision
Structured intake runs with a responsible attorney on the matter from the start. You watch, correct, or pause the AI at any point. Everything it produces is labeled Unverified until you sign off. -
Review, approve, export
You approve what is right, reject what is not, and export a matter record with source-linked research that labels AI-generated versus attorney-reviewed content. Ready for the day someone asks.
Cross-examination
Ask us the hard questions.
Does using CounselRoom make my client's communications privileged?
No, and the rule does not ask us to. Rule 1.6(c) asks you to make reasonable efforts to protect client information. It is a process standard, not a guarantee. Privilege gets decided later, by a court, on the facts. Reasonable efforts get decided by what you did.
Then what should I make of a vendor who does promise privilege?
That they are promising something the rule does not recognize. We do not sell you a guarantee. We give you the record of what you did: who had access, what the AI produced, what you approved, and when.
What does my client see?
Only what you have approved. AI output stays labeled Unverified, visible to the firm alone, until an attorney signs off.
Who else can read the matter?
Nobody by default. Authorization is deny-by-default across firm, matter, and role. Even firm admins get no matter content unless granted it.
Nothing further?
The Security page has the rest of the answers, including a list of things we refuse to claim.
Give your clients a better room.
CounselRoom is in an invite-only pilot for small and midsize firms. Tell us about yours.