LEGAL · CLIENT CONFIDENTIALITY

Use AI Without Putting Privilege or Client Confidences at Risk

Lawyers paste deal terms, deposition excerpts and client emails into AI to move faster. Wald reads the context of every prompt on the device and stops confidential client information before it reaches ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot or Gemini.

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Built for law firms:

ABA Rule 1.6ABA Op. 512PrivilegeClient OCGsAudit logs
Legal AI DLP: Wald blocks privileged emails, settlement terms and client matter details on the device before they reach ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Grok

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WHY AI IS THE NEW CONFIDENTIALITY RISK

AI Is Now the Quietest Way Client Confidences Leave the Firm

Document management, email and e-discovery platforms have safeguards. AI prompts often don't. Lawyers paste whole drafts into a browser tab, often from personal accounts, and legacy DLP never sees it.

#1

GenAI is now the top channel for corporate data moving to personal accounts, carrying 32% of it.

77%

of employees using GenAI paste data straight into prompts.

82%

of those pastes happen in unmanaged personal accounts your tools can’t see.

Source: LayerX, Enterprise AI & SaaS Data Security Report 2025

R
Rachel · Litigation associateFree ChatGPT · personal account · Wed 10:27 PM
TYPICAL SCENARIO

Draft a settlement letter to opposing counsel in Ridgeway v. Halvorsen. Our client Halvorsen Manufacturing will accept up to $1.8M. Their CFO admitted in an internal email that the defect was known in 2022.

Client confidences in one prompt: MatterClientSettlement authorityPrivileged emailAdmission

What just happened

  • Client confidences shared with a third party without informed consent
  • An opening for opposing counsel to argue privilege was waived
  • A likely breach of the client’s outside counsel guidelines on AI
No SSN, no account number. Pattern-based DLP would have let it through.
ABA FORMAL OPINION 512
Consent first

The ABA says lawyers need a client’s informed consent before entering information relating to the representation into a self-learning generative AI tool, and that boilerplate in an engagement letter isn’t enough.

Rule 1.6(c)Make reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized disclosure of client information
Rule 1.1Competence includes understanding the risks of the technology you use

Why Employee AI Use Puts Client Confidentiality at Risk
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01

Privilege Has No Pattern

A settlement number, a strategy memo, a client admission. None has a fixed format, so pattern-based DLP misses all of them.

02

Clients Are Writing AI Into OCGs

More outside counsel guidelines restrict putting client data into AI tools. Firms need to show they enforce it, not just promise it.

03

Deadlines Drive Shadow AI

Associates turn to free AI tools to hit filing deadlines, often on personal accounts the firm can’t see.

04

No Record, No Answer for the Client

When a client asks whether their data went into AI, you need a log, not a best guess.

The Client Information Wald Protects

Rule 1.6 covers all information relating to the representation, not a short list of identifiers. These are the types that surface most often in AI prompts at law firms and legal departments. Wald detects each one on the device, by meaning, and you choose Allow, Warn or Block.

Matter details

Who you represent and what it is about.

  • Client names
  • Matter numbers
  • Case captions
  • Opposing parties
  • Deal names

Privileged communications

Advice and strategy that must stay inside.

  • Client emails
  • Legal advice
  • Strategy memos
  • Attorney notes
  • Interview notes

Litigation material

Records pasted in for summaries and drafts.

  • Depositions
  • Discovery
  • Expert reports
  • Sealed filings
  • Settlement terms

Transactional data

Deal documents in negotiation.

  • Draft agreements
  • Term sheets
  • Due diligence
  • Cap tables
  • Pricing

Personal data

Sensitive records that flow through matters.

  • SSNs
  • Medical records
  • Financial records
  • Immigration files
  • Contact details

Investigations

Material that is confidential by nature.

  • Internal investigations
  • Whistleblower reports
  • Subpoenas
  • Regulator letters
  • Compliance reviews

IP & trade secrets

Client know-how that loses value once shared.

  • Patent drafts
  • Invention disclosures
  • Source code
  • Formulas
  • License terms

Firm confidential

The firm’s own business information.

  • Billing rates
  • Client lists
  • Pitch materials
  • Conflicts data
  • Partner comp

Rule 1.6(c) asks for reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized disclosure of client information. Today, that includes AI prompts.

Stop client confidences before they reach AI

Wald’s on-device models read the meaning of a prompt, so negotiation positions, legal strategy and client admissions are caught even when there is no name or number to match.

  • Privilege and work product detection
  • Client, matter and deal names
  • Context, not just pattern matching

Apply firm policies with Allow, Warn, or Block

Set rules per data type, practice group and AI tool. Block privileged material outright, warn on client names, and allow general legal research, so lawyers keep the benefit of AI.

  • Per-data-type, per-practice policies
  • Inline coaching before a block
  • Free and paid AI tools covered

Answers for clients and your general counsel

Every AI interaction is logged with user, tool, data type and policy outcome, so the firm can answer client audits, enforce outside counsel guidelines and investigate incidents fast.

  • Centralised audit trail
  • Exportable reports for client audits
  • Per-user, per-tool records

An Enterprise AI Plan Alone vs. Wald for Law Firms

Enterprise AI plan alone
With Wald
Client confidences still leave the firm
Client confidences stopped on the device
Privilege has no pattern to block
Privilege caught by meaning, not keywords
No proof for client OCG audits
Exportable record for every client audit
Covers only the one tool you license
Covers the AI tools lawyers actually use
Jonathan Antonio
Wald enables our employees to safely leverage leading AI models so they can reduce the time they spend on manual tasks. Our traditional DLP was built for email and file transfers and not AI prompts. Wald gave us real visibility and control over how our employees use LLMs without slowing productivity.
Jonathan Antonio
Jonathan Antonio
Vice President of Infrastructure @Suki

Keep Client Confidences Out of AI

Let lawyers use AI, and keep the proof that client information stayed protected. See how Wald fits your firm in a 30-minute demo.

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3D illustration of Wald AI visibility and protection

Frequently Asked Questions

Talk to Sales

Can lawyers put client information into ChatGPT?

Only with care. ABA Formal Opinion 512 says lawyers need a client's informed consent before entering information relating to the representation into a self-learning generative AI tool.

‍

Even with consent, Rule 1.6(c) still requires reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized disclosure. Wald enforces that on every prompt.

Does sharing privileged information with AI waive privilege?

Courts are still working this out, but disclosing privileged material to a third party can support an argument that privilege was waived.

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The safest position is to keep privileged content from reaching public AI tools in the first place, which is what Wald does on the device.

Is an enterprise AI plan enough for a law firm?

Enterprise plans typically stop the vendor from training on your data, but client information still leaves the firm and is stored by a third party. They also cover only the tool you license, not the free tools lawyers use on the side. Wald adds on-device detection and control across the AI tools your firm actually uses.

Can Wald detect privileged content that has no names or numbers?

Yes. Wald's on-device models read the meaning of a prompt, so settlement positions, legal strategy and client admissions are flagged even without obvious identifiers.

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You decide whether each type is allowed, warned on or blocked, by practice group and AI tool.

Which rules and frameworks does Wald help firms meet?

Wald helps firms meet ABA Model Rules 1.1, 1.6 and 5.3, the guidance in ABA Formal Opinion 512, and client outside counsel guidelines on AI use.

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It also supports GDPR and CCPA obligations for the personal data that flows through matters.

How quickly can we roll out Wald across the firm?

Wald runs as a lightweight agent across browser and desktop, deployed through your existing MDM, so you can start seeing AI usage across practice groups soon after rollout. We'll map out a deployment plan with you during your demo.

Helps you maintain:

SOC2 TYPE II
ABA RULE 1.6
ABA OP. 512
GDPR
CCPA