Litigation partners Chris Boehning and Dan Toal’s latest Federal E-Discovery column, “Court Extends Protective Order’s AI Restrictions to All Discovery Materials,” appeared in the April 14 issue of the New York Law Journal. The authors discuss a recent decision from the U.S. District Court for Kansas in which the court granted a motion to extend a protective order to bar the use of public AI systems with all produced discovery materials, even non-confidential information.
In Jeffries v. Harcros Chemicals, local residents filed putative class actions against the owners and operators of a nearby chemical facility, alleging toxic airborne emissions caused serious health injuries. In an initial protective order, the court restricted the use of AI tools for confidential information, permitting the parties to use public AI tools for nonconfidential information. The defendants moved to apply the order more broadly to all discovery materials, arguing that AI use in litigation is a “paradigm shift” that could jeopardize the security and integrity of information exchanged in discovery. In a decision that underscores courts’ growing AI fluency, the court granted the motion and extended AI restrictions to all produced discovery materials. The decision exemplifies how protective orders can respond to emerging technologies and related risks, capturing the benefits of AI while preserving safeguards for all discovery materials.
Deputy chair and counsel, e-discovery, Ross Gotler and e-discovery attorney Lidia Kekis assisted in the preparation of this article.
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