Legal services

Privileged matter stays inside the firm.

An associate works in the AI they already use. Proxara holds the client identity, the opposing party, and counsel’s mental impressions inside the firm, so the matter file is never the thing that leaves.

Sealed · S.D.N.Y.
Precedent · February 2026
“It is black-letter law that non-privileged communications are not somehow alchemically changed into privileged ones upon being shared with counsel.”

United States v. HeppnerS.D.N.Y. · Judge Jed S. Rakoff · 2026 WL 436479

An executive used a consumer AI tool to draft his defense strategy, then shared the output with counsel. The court held it was protected by neither attorney-client privilege nor the work-product doctrine.

Whether AI-assisted work stays privileged turns on one thing: whether the matter content reaches a public model at all. Proxara keeps it from getting there.

Read the ruling
The privilege barrier

Only tokens cross the line.

The associate works in the AI they already use. The client identity, the opposing party, and counsel’s mental impressions stay inside the firm, and every check is signed firm-side for an ethics committee to read.

A litigation associate summarised a privileged deposition excerpt in Claude. Proxara held the client identity, opposing party, and mental impressions inside the firm before the request left.

Original prompt
Summarise the Reyes deposition for Holloway Industries v Devlin Maritime; note our settlement floor of $2.4M.
Sent to model
Summarise the deposition for [client_a] v [party_b]; note our settlement floor of [figure_a].
Privilege ledger4 HELD
Held at the privilege barrier. These fields never left the firm; the model saw only the tokens.
Privileged fieldHeld valueSent to model
clientHolloway Industries Inc.[client_a]
opposing partyDevlin Maritime LLC[party_b]
mental impressionsettlement floor ≈ $2.4M[figure_a]
witness excerptdeposition · Reyes, p.114[excerpt_a]
Ed25519 · ABA Op 512matter#74-22
On the docket

The everyday work, running through Proxara.

01
Litigation

Discovery summarisation

Deposition transcripts and produced documents summarised in ChatGPT or Claude, with privileged language held back from the prompt.

Privilege held intact
02
Transactional

Drafting and revision

First drafts of memos, briefs, and contract language produced in AI, with no identifying client or counterparty in the prompt.

Client identity protected
03
Partners

Client communication

Status updates and explanatory emails drafted in AI, with matter facts held on the way out and restored on the way back.

Confidentiality preserved
04
Knowledge

Research and analysis

Statutory and case-law research run through AI with the analytical context kept, and the firm and client identity withheld.

Matter held from public models
The rule books

The rules a law firm answers to.

Each interaction lands on the signed audit chain alongside the rule it touches, ready before an ethics committee asks.

  • ABA · Formal Op 512Confidentiality and competence duties met by holding privileged matter back from public AI, with the evidence kept for ethics review.
  • Texas · Op 705Confidential client information kept out of unvetted AI tools, with every output verified rather than relied on blindly.
  • California · Practical GuidanceThe State Bar’s generative-AI guidance on confidentiality, competence, and supervision, with the record ready for committee review.
  • NYSBA · AI Task ForceNew York’s 2024 AI Task Force report on competence, confidentiality, and oversight, met across every connected tool.
  • GDPR · Article 28A data-processing agreement extended across every AI provider that handles personal data on behalf of the firm.
  • HIPAA · Business AssociateFor healthcare-law practice, the business-associate chain documented through every AI tool that touches PHI in the matter file.

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