On February 17, 2026, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled in *United States v. Heppner* that a client’s communications with the generative AI platform “Claude” were not protected by attorney-client privilege or the attorney work product doctrine. Bradley Heppner, charged with fraud and making false statements, had used Claude to help prepare his defense strategy after the FBI seized his devices on November 4, 2025. His attorneys had not directed him to use Claude. The court found the privilege did not apply because Claude was not an attorney, Claude’s user agreement allowed Anthropic to collect and disclose data to third parties, and Heppner was not seeking legal advice from Claude itself. The court suggested the outcome might have differed if Heppner had used Claude at his attorney’s direction. The work product doctrine also did not apply because the communications were not prepared by or at the request of his attorneys and did not reflect their legal strategy. The decision does not control California courts, but offers practical guidance for protecting confidential communications when using generative AI.