Artificial intelligence tools can feel helpful. You type in a question and receive an instant answer. For someone dealing with the stress of a truck crash, car accident, rideshare accident, motorcycle wreck, or other injury claim, it may be tempting to ask an AI platform to explain your case, estimate your settlement value, draft a statement, or help you understand what your attorney told you.
Please do not do that.
When you enter private case information into an AI platform, you may be sacrificing the confidentiality that protects communications between you and your attorney. In some situations, you may even create material that the opposing party, insurance company, or defense lawyer can try to use against you.
That risk is no longer theoretical.
What Happened in United States v. Heppner?
In United States v. Heppner, a federal court addressed whether documents created through a generative AI platform were protected by the attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine. The defendant had used Claude, an AI platform, to create reports related to his legal defense. He later shared those documents with his attorney and argued that they should be protected.
The court disagreed.
The court found that the communications were not protected by attorney-client privilege because Claude was not an attorney, the communications were not kept confidential in the same way attorney-client communications are, and the defendant had not used the AI tool at the direction of counsel to obtain legal advice. The court also rejected work product protection because the documents were not prepared by the attorney or at the attorney’s request.
The lesson is simple: giving something to your lawyer after you created it with AI does not automatically make it privileged.
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Why This Matters in a Personal Injury Case
Personal injury cases often rely on facts that seem small at first but become extremely important later. Insurance companies are trained to look for anything they can use to reduce, delay, or deny your claim.
AI prompts can reveal exactly the type of information the other side wants.
For example, an injured person might type:
“I was in a crash, but I may have been going a little over the speed limit. How do I explain that?”
“My attorney said the insurance company may argue I waited too long to get treatment. What should I say?”
“I had back pain before the accident, but it got worse afterward. How can I prove the crash caused it?”
“I was looking down for a second before the collision. Can I still recover money?”
“My lawyer thinks the defense may argue comparative negligence. What does that mean for my settlement?”
Those questions may feel private. But if they are entered into an AI platform, they may not be treated like a confidential conversation with your lawyer.
Comparative Negligence Makes This Even More Dangerous
In Florida personal injury cases, comparative negligence can be one of the biggest issues in the entire case. Comparative negligence means the other side may argue that you were partially responsible for the accident or your injuries.
That can directly affect how much compensation you recover.
For example, if your damages are valued at $100,000 but you are found 20% at fault, your recovery may be reduced by 20%. But in many Florida negligence cases, the stakes are even higher: if you are found more than 50% at fault for your own harm, you may be barred from recovering damages at all.
That means one statement, one poorly worded explanation, or one AI-generated summary could become a serious problem.
An AI prompt about speeding, distraction, seatbelt use, delayed medical care, prior injuries, social media posts, alcohol consumption, work restrictions, pain levels, or accident details could give the insurance company a roadmap for attacking your case.
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AI Can Create a Record You Did Not Mean to Create
When you talk to your attorney, the law generally protects confidential communications made for the purpose of legal advice. That protection exists so clients can be honest with their lawyers.
AI platforms are different.
Depending on the platform, account settings, privacy policy, business plan, and data retention rules, your prompts and outputs may be stored, reviewed, used for training, disclosed, or otherwise handled in ways that are not the same as a privileged attorney-client conversation.
Even worse, AI tools may generate inaccurate, incomplete, or harmful responses. You may ask a question based on an incomplete understanding of the law, and the AI may produce an answer that sounds confident but is legally wrong. You may then save it, screenshot it, send it, or rely on it.
That can create confusion and unnecessary risk.
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Do Not Put These Details Into AI
If you are involved in a personal injury claim, do not enter any of the following into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, or any other AI platform unless your attorney specifically instructs you to do so through an approved and secure process:
- What your attorney told you about your case
- Legal strategy or settlement strategy
- Your version of how the accident happened
- Anything you think you may have done wrong
- Statements about speeding, distraction, intoxication, fatigue, or inattention
- Medical records, diagnoses, treatment history, or prior injuries
- Photos of injuries, vehicles, accident scenes, or property damage
- Insurance communications or settlement offers
- Recorded statement preparation
- Questions about whether you should accept a settlement
- Drafts of messages to insurance adjusters
- Anything you would not want the insurance company or defense lawyer to read
A good rule is this: if you would not say it directly to the insurance adjuster, do not type it into an AI platform.
“But I Was Just Trying to Understand My Case”
We understand. Injury cases can be overwhelming. You may have questions about medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, car repairs, insurance coverage, fault, and how long the process will take.
But your legal team is the right place for those questions.
Your attorney can explain the law based on your facts, your medical records, the available evidence, the insurance coverage, and the risks specific to your case. AI cannot replace that judgment, and it does not owe you the duties your lawyer owes you.
Most importantly, AI is not bound by attorney-client privilege simply because you are asking legal questions.
What If You Already Used AI?
If you already entered information about your case into an AI platform, do not panic—but do not delete anything or try to hide it. Tell your attorney immediately.
Your lawyer needs to know what was entered, what the platform produced, whether anything was saved or shared, and whether the information included legal advice, case strategy, medical details, or facts about fault. Deleting materials after a claim or lawsuit has started can create additional problems, so talk to your attorney before taking any action.
The sooner your legal team knows, the better they can evaluate the risk and protect your interests.
The Safest Approach: Ask Your Lawyer First
AI may have uses in everyday life, but your personal injury case is not the place to experiment with public AI tools. Accident details, medical information, and legal strategy should be handled carefully and confidentially.
Before you use AI for anything related to your injury claim, ask your attorney.
At Brooks Law Group, we want clients to feel informed and supported throughout the legal process. If you have a question about your case, your medical treatment, your insurance claim, comparative negligence, settlement value, or what to say to an adjuster, contact our team directly.
Do not ask AI.
Ask your lawyer.
This article is for general information only and is not legal advice. Every case is different. If you have questions about your personal injury claim, Look to Brooks® for guidance on your specific situation.
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