Last updated: 12 November 2026

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Client-file AI tool checklistbefore you put a client file into an AI tool

TimeBinder adds a layer of protection against AI and human fraud and disputes. Review the current terms and the exact copies you can still show, before you enter a client file or other protected information into an AI tool.

Nothing you tick is sent anywhere. This page cannot decide whether a duty was met or whether privilege was waived, and it is not legal advice.

Check the terms and copies you can still show

Tick what is true of the information you already hold, the current terms of any tool you will use, and the copies you will keep. You get a shareable result and clear next steps. Nothing you tick is sent to TimeBinder.

Your choices stay on this page. Nothing you tick is sent anywhere or tied to your name.

Tick everything that is true before you put a client file or other protected information into an AI tool

This looks at the current terms of the tool, whether the information is protected, and the exact copies you can still show. It cannot decide whether a duty was met or whether privilege was waived, and it is not legal advice.

What to do now

What should I keep before I put a client file into an AI tool? The short answer

Keep a dated copy of the exact text or file you already hold, from before you enter it into an AI tool, a dated copy of the current terms of that tool, including what happens to prompts and uploads, and a dated copy of any output you will rely on. If your rules require an explanation or consent, keep a note of what you told the client.

This checklist is not a privilege decision. A TimeBind of a file you already hold can show that exact file existed no later than a recorded time and still matches. It does not show that a duty was met, or that privilege was waived.

Why this came up in late October and early November 2026

On 31 October 2026, the New York State Bar Association House of Delegates approved Legal Ethics Guidelines for Lawyers’ Use of Artificial Intelligence (Version 7, dated 22 to 23 October 2026). Guideline 6A says a lawyer must not enter, transmit, expose, or otherwise use confidential information in an AI tool in a manner that violates duties owed to current, former, or prospective clients, and that before using an AI tool with protected information the lawyer must make reasonable efforts to understand and address material risks of unauthorized access, disclosure, use, or cross-matter exposure.

Guideline 6B adds that where an AI tool transmits client information to an outside service, retains it, trains on it, or can reach across matters, the lawyer must make reasonable efforts to understand and control those data flows before the tool is used. Where a tool’s data handling materially affects the representation, the lawyer must give the client information adequate for informed consent. Those are New York guidelines. They do not decide a matter in another jurisdiction, and this page is not legal advice.

A week later, on 6 November 2026, the New York County Lawyers Association announced that its Committee on Professional Ethics had issued an ethics opinion on generative AI in legal practice, with particular focus on solo practitioners and small firms. The press release says the opinion covers competence, confidentiality, candor to tribunals and supervision, and that it offers a four-step compliance framework addressing privilege protection. This page cites that press release, not the full opinion.

Measured demand is current. Autocomplete checked on 12 November 2026, about 9:26 PM Australia/Brisbane, returned suggestion clusters for "chatgpt attorney client privilege", including "does chatgpt waive attorney client privilege", for "can lawyers use chatgpt", and for "putting confidential documents in chatgpt". A dated YouTube sample the same evening included a 10 November 2026 video on attorney-client privilege and AI (2,786 views at the time of the check) and a 20 October 2026 talk, "Can Lawyers Put Client Information Into AI?". Counts and suggestions will keep moving.

The checks are written for the next time a lawyer is about to enter a client file or other protected information into a tool, in any jurisdiction. Always follow the current professional rules that apply to that work, any court order or protective order in the matter, and the current terms of the tool. ABA Formal Opinion 512 (29 July 2024) remains widely cited background on confidentiality and informed consent; it sits outside this demand window and is not the hook for this page.

Sources: the 31 October 2026 NYSBA guidelines and the 6 November 2026 NYCLA press release.

What this checklist does and does not do

The honest job of this page is to slow down an upload or a paste until the exact copies and the terms are in hand, not to judge a professional duty for you. See also the glossary entries for existed no later than and fingerprint.

Limits of a client-file AI tool checklist
Part	What it does	What it does not do
Current terms of an AI tool	Reminds you to read retention, training, human review and any other service that will receive the prompt or the file, and to keep a dated copy of those terms.	Interpret a vendor's terms for you, or show what a tool did with a prompt.
Protected information	Gives you a reason to pause if the text or file relates to a current, former or prospective client, and to consider a redacted excerpt.	Decide whether the information is confidential or privileged in your matter.
Copies you already hold	Reminds you to keep the exact text or file from before an entry, and the output you will rely on.	Show that those copies are complete, or that a later chat is the same record.
A TimeBind of a file you already hold	Records that an exact file existed no later than a recorded time and still matches, using a SHA-256 fingerprint made in your browser. The file stays on your device.	Show that a duty was met, that privilege was waived or preserved, or that a chat will be treated as confidential.

If a client file is one you may need to stand behind later

Before you enter a client file or other protected information into a tool:

Keep a dated copy of the exact text or file you already hold, and of any output you will rely on.
Make a TimeBind of each exact file or archive you already hold. The fingerprint is made in your browser and the file stays on your device. You can later download a Proof of Time Certificate.
Read the current terms of any tool that will receive the information first, write down any explanation or consent you gave, and store the files, the terms capture and the certificate together.

A TimeBind shows the exact file existed no later than the recorded time and still matches. It is not a privilege decision, and it is not legal advice.

Make a TimeBind: first one free →

First Pooled TimeBind free, no card, then from US$5. An ASAP TimeBind is US$15.

What a TimeBind shows, and what it does not. It shows that an exact file existed no later than a recorded time and that a copy shown later still matches its fingerprint. It does not show who made the file, who owns it, that its contents are true, or whether AI was used to make or edit it. This is general information, not legal advice.

If an AI tool helped with research, the free Citation verification log builder records how each citation was checked and gives you a file note. It cannot look anything up.

To agree up front where AI tools may be used on a visualisation job, see also the free Visualisation AI scope brief builder. It drafts a scope paragraph for a quote and is not a contract clause.

To record which AI chat accounts touched a matter, what went in and whether a copy was kept, see also the free AI chat transcript retention record. It cannot say whether a chat is privileged or can be demanded, and it is not legal advice.

Client-file AI tool checklist: FAQ

Can this tool decide whether privilege was waived, or whether I met a confidentiality duty?

No. It cannot decide whether a duty was met or whether privilege was waived. It only helps you review the current terms and the exact copies you still hold. This is not legal advice.

What should I keep before I put a client file into an AI tool?

A dated copy of the exact text or file you already hold, from before you enter it, a dated copy of the current terms of the tool, including retention, training and any other service that will receive the prompt, and a dated copy of any output you will rely on. A TimeBind of an exact file you already hold can show that file existed no later than a recorded time and still matches.

Does a chat with an AI tool stay confidential because I used it for legal work?

Not automatically. Some courts have treated consumer chats as ordinary records. Official ethics guidance, including New York State Bar Association guidelines approved on 31 October 2026, tells lawyers to understand data flows before a tool is used. This page cannot tell you how a court would treat a specific chat.

Does a dated record replace a file-retention policy or an ethics opinion?

No. A dated record of a file you already hold is not a finding that a duty was met, and it is not a substitute for the rules that apply to your practice.

Is anything I tick sent to TimeBinder?

No. The checklist runs in your browser. Your ticks stay on the page.

Is this legal advice?

No. If you need advice about a specific matter, a privilege question or a firm policy, speak to a qualified practitioner or your professional-responsibility counsel. This page cannot replace that answer.

Related guides and tools

Your file’s fingerprint, anchored to a global network secured by real electricity and cryptography.

Editing a file—including with AI—changes its fingerprint, not its existing network record.

How this works

Your file’s SHA-256 fingerprint, a short code worked out from its exact contents, is made in your browser, and the file itself stays on your device. A cryptographic commitment to that fingerprint, which may be combined with others, is then anchored in a block on the Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin is secured by proof of work: computers around the world spend real electricity to add each block, and changing an earlier block would mean redoing that work faster than the rest of the network. Until that block is confirmed, your proof is pending. Once the Bitcoin anchoring is confirmed, you can verify the proof against that recorded commitment. The confirmed record can then be checked; Pooled TimeBinds are checked through TimeBinder, while ASAP TimeBinds can also be checked independently. If you check the file later and its fingerprint still matches, that shows the file existed no later than the recorded time. The record doesn’t show who made the file, whether AI was used, or that its contents are true.

Your filestays on your device
FingerprintSHA-256
Network timestampon Bitcoin

Date the exact files you already hold

Add a layer of protection against AI and human fraud and disputes: a dated, checkable record of the exact text, file or output, kept beside the terms you may later need to show.

Open the app and sign in with email or Google.
Add your files. They stay on your computer.
Seal them and download your Proof of Time certificates.

Open TimeBinder →

First Pooled TimeBind free, no card, then from US$5. See pricing.