A judge for the Business Court of Texas recently weighed in on the growing issue of whether non-lawyers’ “chats” with publicly available generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools or large language models (LLM) are protected attorney work product, denying a defendant’s demand that a plaintiff turn over certain conversations with an AI tool under the attorney work-product protection.

Quick Hits

• A Texas judge ruled that conversations with generative AI tools could be protected as attorney work product under Texas law, diverging from a recent landmark federal case.
• The decision implies that using AI does not automatically waive privilege, as such conversations may not be likely to be disclosed to adversaries.
• Employers may want to monitor employee interactions with AI to manage potential risks to attorney-client privilege and confidentiality.

On June 3, 2026, Judge Grant Dorfman for the Texas Business Court Eleventh Division issued a minute entry in Tate Group Automotive, LLC v. Legacy Automotive Capital, LLC, ruling that a non-lawyer’s AI conversations, prepared in anticipation of litigation, could qualify as privileged work product under Texas procedural rules.

Judge Dorfman indicated that AI conversations could be covered by the work-product protection under Texas law, citing the Texas rules of civil procedure that work product is “material prepared or mental impressions developed in anticipation of litigation or for trial by or for a party….” (Emphasis in...

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