Lalor Attorneys

02/26/2026

Last week, a federal judge in New York ruled that materials a criminal defendant generated using a consumer AI tool were not protected by attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine. This should be a wake-up call for anyone facing even the possibility of a future dispute.

The defendant in the linked case had used the AI on his own and without his attorney's direction. The platform's own privacy policy disclosed it could use inputs for model training and share data with third parties including the government. The AI also provided the usual disclaimer that it could not provide legal advice.

The law on privilege and AI will have to evolve as AI becomes more ubiquitous and the lines between lawyering and AI continue to blur. There will be new arguments and new facts that could drive new looks by courts. Here, Judge Rakoff applied traditional privilege principles and declined to create new ones for AI.

Applying traditional privilege rules to AI is the classic square peg and round hole. But at least for now, the message is clear that if you are using ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or any consumer AI tool to organize your thoughts about a dispute, draft a timeline, vent about a situation, or prepare to talk to your lawyer, those interactions may later be discoverable in the event of litigation. This includes a business dispute, a divorce, a personal injury claim, or a regulatory inquiry. Anything.

Before you ask your AI anything sensitive, first ask yourself whether you would want that content in a deposition exhibit if things go sideways in unexpected ways. This is a new and extraordinarily unsettled area of law, and in those settings unwary litigants can find themselves in very difficult positions.

Ironically, developments like this one are already prompting important conversations in the legal community about how attorneys and clients should be thinking about AI use from the very start of any matter.

MEMORANDUM as to Bradley Heppner. At a pretrial conference in this matter held on February 10, 2026, the Court, after hearing the arguments of counsel, granted from the bench the Government's motion for a ruling that certain writtenexchanges that defendant Bradley Heppner had with a generativeartifi...

02/06/2026

Something worth noting for young attorneys:

A senior lawyer just joined my firm. He and I were adverse to one another in a contentious case about five years ago.

Recently, I litigated a contentious dispute involving a residential lease. My opposing counsel was a lawyer who had been our real estate closing attorney years ago when my family moved from NY to CT. He had also been an attorney at my old firm in NYC, referred to us by my former boss there. He and I have played on the same softball team, collaborated on matters, and appeared as co-counsel. His client in this lease dispute? A former senior partner at that same old firm of mine. Turns out, we all lived in the same little town in Connecticut.

Somewhere in there, my firm was hired as local counsel by a Maryland attorney to whom I'd been adverse years ago in another contentious case. We often catch up to talk about kids, politics, and law practice.

Over the years, I've seen this dynamic play out in different ways. In complex cases amid sometimes very nasty litigation, we baby lawyers would grab drinks after 6-hour exhausting depositions in Waterloo Iowa, or wherever we'd been dispatched, in which the attorneys were sometimes the main event—and we'd remember we were all just doing our jobs.

None of this is to pat myself on the back. I've been fortunate to be around great people in difficult situations. But when I mentor law students and young attorneys, I emphasize this point: Lawyers do not have to be mortal enemies. We zealously advocate for our clients. But we are professionals and humans. Especially in some jurisdictions, this is easy to forget.

01/14/2026

We are pleased to announce the expansion of our legal team! Please join us in welcoming Samuel M. Leaf as a Partner at The Law Offices of William P. Lalor.

Sam brings 28 years of experience in commercial litigation, media and First Amendment law, complex insurance coverage disputes, employment matters, and litigation risk counseling. A graduate of Brooklyn Law School (cum laude), where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Brooklyn Law Review, Sam has spent the majority of his career representing Fortune 500 companies, major media outlets, and hedge fund and private equity clients.

We are excited to add his extensive experience in media litigation and complex commercial disputes to our firm's capabilities.
connect with Sam at [email protected] / 646.584.4486!

12/10/2025

We meet with business owners on a routine basis who say the same thing: "We should have done this from the beginning."

They're talking to us because:
→ Partners can't agree on who owns what
→ A key employee is walking away with client lists
→ A vendor dispute is threatening their cash flow
→ They're personally liable for business debts they thought were protected

Here's what they all have in common: They treated legal documentation as an expense to delay instead of an investment in clarity.

Clarity is an investment, not a cost.

Clear operating agreements prevent partnership disputes.
Clear employment contracts protect your team and your business.
Clear vendor agreements avoid payment battles.
Clear entity formation shields your personal assets.

Clarity reduces conflict, protects relationships, and lets you focus on building your business instead of fighting about it.

If you're starting or growing a business in Connecticut or New York, invest in clarity from the start.

Make us your first call. We help small businesses get it right from day one.

12/02/2025

Breaking up is hard to do—especially in business.

When small business partnerships fall apart, you need more than just legal advice. You need a strategic advocate who understands the unique challenges that you face as a small business owner during a business divorce.

Our firm helps navigate the complexities of business divorces, including:

- Buyout negotiations – Whether you're buying out a partner or being bought out, the terms matter. We negotiate favorable payment structures, valuations, and transition timelines that work for your financial situation and business continuity.

- Protecting your reputation and client relationships – A messy partnership split can damage years of relationship-building. We help craft communication strategies and separation agreements that maintain professionalism, preserve client confidence, and protect your brand in the marketplace.

- Minimizing disruption to operations – Your business can't afford to grind to a halt during a partnership dispute. We develop efficient exit strategies that keep your doors open, employees informed, and customers served while resolving the underlying issues.

Additional support areas:

- Dispute resolution and mediation
- Operating agreement enforcement or modification
- Division of assets, debts, and intellectual property
- Succession planning for remaining partners
- Litigation when necessary to protect your rights

My firm helps small business owners exit partnerships with clarity, fairness, and their futures intact. Don't navigate this challenging transition alone.

For more information: www.LalorAttorneys.com