Vinson & Elkins Taps AI Executive Marty as New Operating Chief

Vinson & Elkins hired Jason Marty as chief operating officer, turning to a former artificial intelligence company executive as the law firm navigates its way with the new technology.

Marty, who also brings experience as a COO at other law firms, said “optionality” will be his priority as Vinson & Elkins extends its use of AI. “Things are moving so quickly that perhaps the most important need is nimbleness,” he said in an interview.

He takes on the COO role as Big Law firms grapple with how much to invest in the new technology. Kirkland & Ellis earlier this month announced plans to invest about $500 million to build out AI infrastructure and partner with Palantir Technologies Inc. Others have moved more cautiously as they evaluate the tech’s effect on staffing, training, and client billing.

Marty succeeds Adam Kassoff, who has led the Houston-based firm’s business operations since 2010 and is retiring after a transition period. Marty will oversee business development, communications, facilities, financial services, marketing tech, talent, and tech and data services.

Jason Marty

“We are confident Jason is the right leader to help us continue to build momentum and invest in the future,” V&E Chair Keith Fullenweider said in a statement.

For nearly the past two years Marty served as CEO and co-founder, and then strategic advisor, of Lumio, a company that builds AI tools for law firm business development. He previously spent nearly four years each as COO at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner and Baker McKenzie, working at the latter firm for close to two decades.

The COO job is changing across the industry, trending toward being “more a part of strategy decision making” and “less focused on purely administrative” tasks, he said. “The COO needs to truly be intimately familiar with, and leading across, all of the business operations of a firm,” Marty said.

At V&E he said he aims to build on the firm’s strengths in power, energy, and digital infrastructure—key sectors in the AI-driven data center boom demanding legal services in Texas and across the US. Marty said he also expects to expand the firm’s transactional work, intellectual property, and regulatory practice.

Vinson & Elkins has more than 600 total attorneys, with partners earning $4.5 million in average profits last year, according to Bloomberg Law data. The firm recorded more than $1.1 billion in total revenue in 2025.

The firm’s lawyers use a number of AI-powered legal tools, including Harvey AI, Westlaw Advantage, Microsoft Copilot, Claude, Relativity’s aiR, and Orbital Copilot, a spokesperson said via email.

V&E’s experience across regulatory, real estate, transmission, and energy work explains “why I’m bullish on this firm grabbing those opportunities and really building strength on strength,” Marty said.

He sees the ideal COO role extending beyond budgeting and staffing to input about how firmwide teams address industry changes via AI, he said. He couldn’t be held to predictions about the AI landscape even nine months out from now—and firms must be prepared to pivot as the tech’s impact continues to outpace forecasts, Marty said.

Firm leaders also carry an obligation to track how AI reshapes client relationships and industry structure, without losing sight of the people working inside the firm, he said. “We are still fundamentally a people business,” Marty said.