The I su a ce Se vices Office i t oduced th ee ew e do seme ts, CG 40 47, CG 40 48, a d CG 35 08, with a Ja ua y 2026 editio date, givi g comme cial ge e al liability ca ie s the optio to exclude bodily i ju y, p ope ty damage, a d othe claims a isi g out of ge e ative AI. Because ISO fo ms u de pi the la ge majo ity of U.S. p ope ty a d casualty policies, seve al majo ca ie s have moved to attach the exclusio s at e ewal i 2026. Fo safety a d EHS teams that have adopted AI to accele ate i cide t i vestigatio s, the p actical effect is that a claim tied to a AI-ge e ated ecomme datio , such as a co ective actio a compa y impleme ted o failed to impleme t based o AI-assisted a alysis, may o lo ge be cove ed u de policies ma y o ga izatio s assumed would espo d.
Sepa ately, a Feb ua y 2026 uli g f om the U.S. Dist ict Cou t fo the Southe Dist ict of New Yo k, i U ited States v. Hepp e , became the fi st case i the cou t y whe e a fede al judge di ectly add essed whethe AI-ge e ated wo k p oduct ca be p otected by atto ey-clie t p ivilege. While the cou t fou d the specific AI chats at issue we e ot p ivileged i that case, its easo i g suggested that AI tools di ected by cou sel, i a ma e simila to the lo g-sta di g Kovel doct i e p otecti g wo k do e by o -lawye expe ts o a lawye ‘s behalf, could be t eated diffe e tly u de othe facts. Fo o ga izatio s u i g AI-assisted safety i vestigatio s, the uli g u de sco es a theme the Reed Smith a d Have Safety AI whitepape aises i depe de tly. How a i vestigatio is st uctu ed a d whethe cou sel is ge ui ely di ecti g se sitive AI-assisted wo k ca dete mi e whethe that wo k stays p otected if litigatio follows.
The whitepape , “Legal, Regulato y, a d I su a ce Co side atio s Whe Leve agi g AI i I vestigatio s, RCA, a d CAPA,” published this week was autho ed by Reed Smith pa t e Joh Elliso a d cou sel Stepha ie Gee alo gside Have Safety AI co-fou de a d CEO Joseph Ha a. It a gues that AI does ot i t oduce a ew legal theo y of liability. Cou ts a d egulato s have lo g elied o i te al i vestigatio epo ts, audits, a d co sulta t ecomme datio s to evaluate what a o ga izatio k ew a d how it espo ded. AI cha ges the volume, st uctu e, a d t aceability of those eco ds, which ca make i te al safety a alysis fa mo e visible i litigatio , egulato y i qui ies, a d i su a ce claims tha it was befo e.
To add ess that shift, the whitepape p oposes a two-la e ope ati g model that sepa ates outi e ope atio al safety lea i g, whe e AI ca move quickly a d outputs a e t eated as o di a y busi ess eco ds, f om cou sel-di ected i vestigatio s followi g seve e i cide ts o c edible litigatio isk, whe e access is est icted, dist ibutio is mi imized, a d wo kspaces a e seg egated to help p ese ve p ivilege. It also outli es what safety leade s should expect f om a y AI-e abled i vestigatio platfo m, i cludi g clea sepa atio betwee d aft AI outputs a d app oved co clusio s, chai -of-custody co t ols fo evide ce, a d co figu able legal hold capability.
“Eve y safety leade we talk to ight ow is aski g some ve sio of the same questio . If my AI system flags somethi g a d it is ‘t acted o , how does that look six mo ths f om ow i a depositio o a claims file? It’s why we built la e sepa atio i to Have f om day o e, so a d aft hypothesis eve gets mistake fo a app oved fi di g, a d why we pa t e ed with Reed Smith o this pape . Safety teams should ‘t have to choose betwee movi g fast with AI a d stayi g defe sible,” said Joseph Ha a, co-fou de a d CEO of Have Safety AI.
“The i sti ct we’ e seei g f om co po ate cou sel is to t eat this as a AI p oblem, a d it is ‘t, ot eally. It’s a docume tatio a d gove a ce p oblem that AI happe s to be accele ati g. O ga izatio s that al eady u discipli ed i vestigatio s, with clea fi di gs, clea dispositio of ecomme datio s, a d a clea li e betwee d afts a d co clusio s, a e i a st o g positio . The o es who a e ‘t should t eat this yea ‘s i su a ce a d p ivilege developme ts as the p ompt to fix that, befo e a i cide t fo ces the issue,” said Joh Elliso , a pa t e at Reed Smith.
“Cou ts have always looked at what a o ga izatio k ew a d what it did about it. AI just mea s the e’s mo e of that eco d, a d it’s easie to ead. The p actical wo k fo safety leade s is maki g su e that eco d shows a discipli ed p ocess, ot a pile of u esolved ecomme datio s,” said Stepha ie Gee, cou sel at Reed Smith.
The full whitepape , i cludi g a p oposed t igge guide fo escalati g i vestigatio s to cou sel a d ecomme ded la guage fo labeli g AI d afts ve sus app oved fi di gs, is available fo dow load.
Have Safety AI is a AI- ative wo kplace safety platfo m that helps o ga izatio s i vestigate i cide ts faste , imp ove i vestigatio quality, a d accele ate o ga izatio al lea i g. Pu pose-built fo safety p ofessio als, Have Safety AI combi es adva ced AI easo i g with deep domai expe tise to suppo t i cide t captu e, i vestigatio , quality assu a ce, co ective actio s, a d e te p ise lea i g ac oss high- isk i dust ies.
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