Generative AI in Litigation: The 2026 Privilege Split and the New Preservation Duty

Cristin Traylor, Senior Director, AI Transformation & Law Firm Strategy | Relativity

Cristin Traylor is the Senior Director of AI Transformation & Law Firm Strategy at Relativity, where she guides law firms and enterprise legal teams through the strategic integration of generative AI into legal workflows. She brings more than two decades of litigation and discovery experience to the role, including nearly twelve years as Discovery Counsel at McGuireWoods LLP.

• Education & Credentials

Cristin earned her J.D. from Quinnipiac University School of Law in 2000 and her B.A. in Sociology and Psychology from Randolph-Macon College in 1997. She holds the Relativity Master certification.

• Recognition & Leadership

At Relativity, Cristin leads the strategic integration of generative AI into legal workflows for law firms and enterprise clients and serves as a senior strategic advisor on AI adoption for Am Law 100 firms and global legal teams. Her recent writing addresses scaling defensible generative AI results in document review and judicial treatment of AI-assisted review.

• Professional Involvement

Cristin is an active member of Sedona Conference Working Group 1 and serves as Project Trustee of the EDRM Privilege Log Protocol. She also serves as Assistant Chapter Director of Richmond Women in e-Discovery, and from 2012 to 2017 was President and a board member of Nurture, The OmMama Resource Center.

• Experience

Before joining Relativity in 2021, Cristin spent two decades at McGuireWoods LLP. As Discovery Counsel from 2009 to 2021, she led discovery strategies across complex, high-exposure litigation and investigations and oversaw a multi-faceted team of legal professionals providing discovery assistance and strategic advice to firm clients, including in white collar matters. Her earlier practice in the firm’s government investigations and business litigation group included representing corporations and individuals in DOJ and SEC investigations and conducting internal investigations and compliance audits, including FCPA and export controls. As a member of the firm’s Practice Innovation Office, she helped establish firm-wide technology priorities and evaluated artificial intelligence and collaboration tools prior to widespread generative AI.

Michael Haeberle, Managing Member | The Patterson Law Firm, LLC

Michael Haeberle is the Managing Member of The Patterson Law Firm, LLC, a Chicago-based business litigation firm. He focuses his practice on business lawsuits, contract litigation, shareholder disputes, cryptocurrency disputes, and professional negligence matters, and he counsels businesses on governance, employment, and restrictive covenant issues.

• Education & Credentials

Michael received his J.D. with honors from the University of Chicago Law School in 2012, where he participated in the Hinton Moot Court program and the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship. He earned his B.A. magna cum laude in history from Carleton College, with a concentration in Latin American studies. He is licensed to practice in Illinois and Wisconsin and was trained as a mediator through Community Mediation Services.

• Recognition & Leadership

Michael was named Managing Member of The Patterson Law Firm in 2021, becoming one of the youngest non-founding attorneys to lead a prominent Chicago-area litigation firm; he was elevated to partner in 2017. He co-authored TROs and Preliminary Injunctions: Handling the Business Emergency, a guide on emergency remedies published by the American Bar Association in 2021, and has been featured in the media regarding cryptocurrency disputes.

• Professional Involvement

Michael is a member of the Illinois Appellate Lawyers Association and serves on the LAF Young Professionals Board. He presents continuing legal education classes for attorneys on a range of topics, including alter ego liability and collections and non-compete agreements. His publications and presentations include an article on attorneys’ retaining liens in the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association’s Trial Journal (2018), a program on ethical issues in advising small businesses for the DuPage County Bar Association (2018), and a presentation on risk management for plaintiff attorneys at the AAJ Annual Convention (2018).

• Experience

Michael joined The Patterson Law Firm in 2014 and has litigated commercial matters including breach of contract, legal malpractice and professional liability, and appellate cases. Before joining the firm, he was an associate at a Chicago law firm, where he litigated breach of contract and consumer fraud cases on behalf of businesses and individuals at the trial and appellate levels. During law school, he gained experience at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago, and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, and before law school he taught elementary school students through an AmeriCorps program.

Elizabeth (“Liz”) E. Georgiopoulos, Shareholder | Greenberg Traurig, LLP

Elizabeth (“Liz”) E. Georgiopoulos is a Shareholder in the Litigation Practice of Greenberg Traurig, LLP’s Boston office. She litigates high-stakes matters across state and federal courts and in domestic and international arbitration forums, and she regularly serves as outside eDiscovery counsel for clients in cases involving intricate data issues.

• Education & Credentials

Liz earned her J.D. from Boston College Law School in 2017, where she was recognized for Pro Bono Excellence, and her B.A. magna cum laude from Tufts University in 2012. She is admitted in Massachusetts and before the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and she is fluent in Greek and Spanish.

• Recognition & Leadership

Liz is listed in The Best Lawyers in America “Ones to Watch” for Commercial Litigation (2025–2026) and was honored by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly with an Excellence in the Law “Up & Coming Lawyers” award in 2026.

• Professional Involvement

Liz frequently speaks and writes on the ethical use of artificial intelligence. She advises clients across industries on cutting-edge information governance issues, including record retention policies, data privacy and cybersecurity compliance, and the ethical deployment of artificial intelligence in the workplace.

• Experience

Liz counsels clients in managing all phases of the Electronic Discovery Reference Model, from early case assessment to production and presentation. She has drafted information governance frameworks for organizations ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies and has focused experience in HIPAA compliance, electronic medical records systems, and related data analytics. Her earlier experience includes judicial internships with the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the Framingham District Court.

SESSION 1 – Asserting and Defending Privilege Over Generative AI Prompts and Outputs | 12:50pm – 1:50pm

This session examines the first federal judicial split on privilege and work product protection as applied to generative AI-generated litigation materials, anchored in United States v. Heppner (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 17, 2026) and Warner v. Gilbarco, Inc. (E.D. Mich. Feb. 10, 2026). Attorneys will learn how courts are applying attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine to AI prompts and outputs, what distinctions—such as consumer versus enterprise AI platforms and attorney direction—are driving outcomes, and how bar ethics guidance intersects with privilege analysis. Attendees will leave with a framework for documenting AI use, evaluating waiver risk, and advising clients on safeguards before AI-generated materials become a discovery flashpoint.

BREAK | 1:50pm – 2:00pm

SESSION 2 – Delete at Your Peril: Preserving Generative AI Evidence Under Rule 37(e) | 2:00pm – 3:00pm

This session examines the emerging duty to preserve generative AI prompts, outputs, and interaction logs as electronically stored information under Rule 37(e), drawing on the OpenAI MDL preservation orders and the Google chat auto-deletion rulings. Attorneys will learn how to map AI-generated ESI across enterprise and shadow AI tools, implement litigation holds that capture this data, and avoid the sanctions exposure that flows from default auto-deletion. Attendees leave with a practical framework for integrating GenAI preservation into Rule 26(f) ESI protocols and legal hold processes.