By Jeffrey A. Newman Esq. MBA
Manhattan-based Judge Jed Rakoff ruled that a litigant must hand over 31 documents generated by Anthropic’s chatbot Claude related to the case. The decision has raised major concerns about communications between people and their AI programs and that they should not be treated like friends. On the same day as Judge Rakoff’s decision, a U.S. Magistrate Judge Anthony Pattiu in Michigan said a woman representing herself in a lawsuit she brought against her former company did not have to hand over her chats with OpenAI’s ChatGPT about the employment-related claims made in the case. Judge Patti treated the woman’s AI chats as part of her own personal “work-product” for the case, rather than as conversations with a person who her employer could seek to use for its defense.
The case that helped set off the alarm bells involving Judge Heppner, the former chair of bankrupt financial services company GWG Holdings and founder of alternative asset firm Beneficent
Heppner was charged by federal prosecutors last November with securities and wire \fraud, and pleaded not guilty.
Third‑party subpoenas to AI providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, etc.) are possible in principle, but in civil cases may run into Stored Communications Act limits on compelled disclosure of message content by service providers. Standard limits still apply: the requesting party must show relevance and proportionality; courts can reject overbroad “fishing expeditions” into all AI use. Functionally, you should assume anything material you or your client enter into a public AI tool about a litigated matter can be requested in discovery and, unless clearly privileged or protected, can be obtained either from the party or, in some circumstances, from the provider.
Jeffrey Newman, JD, MBA, is a whistleblower lawyer whose firm represents healthcare fraud whistleblowers and whistleblowers reporting violations of export controls, tariff evasion, money laundering, and other WB cases. Mr. Newman and his staff also represent many physician whistleblowers in healthcare fraud cases. Whistleblower laws in the U.S. allow individuals with information about export control violations or tariff fraud to report it under the False Claims Act. The Firm’s website is www.JeffNewmanLaw.com. Attorney Newman can be reached at Jeff@Jeffnewmanlaw.com or at 978-880-4758. For other blogs, see: http://JeffNewmanLaw.com
