Discovering a Conversation with a Machine Friend: AI-Assisted Legal Research as an Unmitigated Litigation Vulnerability

Abdilla, Justin, Discovering a Conversation with a Machine Friend: AI-Assisted Legal Research as an Unmitigated Litigation Vulnerability (February 12, 2026). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=6227600 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6227600 On February 10, 2026, a federal judge ruled that every document a criminal defendant generated using a commercial AI tool was discoverable. The ruling in United States v. Heppner ...