The CIO’s take: How real estate legal practices are turning AI into real results

Hosted to coincide with NYC Real Estate Week, Orbital’s latest Partner Forum gathered together law firm innovation leaders and real estate partners to discuss AI’s impact on real estate legal practice. From “AI aha” moments to how real estate teams are becoming first movers when it comes to practice-specific AI, the panel explored the many factors shaping AI adoption across New York’s leading law firms. 

‍

The discussion

Robyn Savage, Orbital’s VP of Customer Success, opened the session by outlining its purpose: to examine how law firms are adopting AI and to uncover some of the opportunities and challenges CIOs encounter when implementing technology, both at practice-level and firmwide.

Where AI can add most value to real estate teams

When asked where Vinson & Elkins is seeing the most value from AI, Aubrey Bishai, the firm’s Chief Innovation Officer, highlighted a sharp rise in usage across the firm, particularly from within their real estate practice:

“We’ve seen this exponential curve of adoption and it’s not just about speed or output. AI is changing how our teams work together, creating new opportunities for collaboration.” 

In agreement, Byong King, Chief Data & AI Officer at Seyfarth, shared that transactional practice areas have proved the most ready for AI adoption:

“AI is taking on the repetitive work so our attorneys can focus on higher-value tasks. It’s that shift that is gaining real traction across our transactional practices.”

AI adoption amongst real estate legal teams 

The conversation moved to exploring how real estate legal teams are adopting AI and how their progress compares with other practice areas across law firms.

Drawing on Orbital’s experience training thousands of real estate lawyers across UK and US firms, Robyn highlighted the single most important factor in successful technology adoption: partner buy-in. Addressing the audience, she said, “You are the ones who will determine whether your firm is ready to embrace the benefits of AI.”

Aubrey confirmed that the real estate team at Vinson & Elkins has been amongst the firm’s earliest and most consistent adopters of AI tools — a result of strong partner leadership combined with the very real need to manage large lease portfolios from their real estate clients, at speed. 

She said the team has reached a point where there’s a clear understanding of how AI can meaningfully accelerate that work.“Our real estate team has been early and frequent adopters of AI: we’re now at a place where there’s a real understanding that AI can help crunch through that work in a very meaningful way.”

Seyfarth’s real estate practice has been especially open to testing new technology, particularly as large transactional clients are increasingly asking for AI efficiencies. That enthusiasm made real estate a natural fit for early AI pilots, he explained.

The success of those efforts has now inspired other practice groups across the firm to follow the same model and explore how AI can enhance their own workflows: “Our real estate team has always been willing to try new tech to meet client demand. After dedicating real focus to that group and seeing success, other practices now want to apply the same AI model to their own work.”

Tactics for AI adoption 

“The GenAI train is moving fast, so our strategy is to learn by doing”
– Byong Kim, Seyfarth 

Discussing AI adoption tactics, Byong emphasized that success depends on people, process, and technology—but most importantly, on continuous learning. At Seyfarth Labs, his team stays ahead of the fast-moving GenAI landscape by testing tools, running demos with vendors and partnering closely with early-adopter attorneys, who they see as crucial in influencing other stakeholders: “We pair our attorneys with vendors like Orbital, run live demos, and turn curiosity into confident adoption.” 

This hands-on approach, that combines internal champions with vendor expertise, has driven both initial engagement, then concerted adoption across the law firm.

When it comes to AI adoption tactics, Aubrey emphasized that GenAI isn’t simply about introducing new software, but something far more significant: a fundamental shift in how legal work is done. 

With hundreds of new tools flooding the market, she focuses her team on fostering a culture of learning. From office hours to extra training, Aubrey emphasises the white glove approach to AI implementation Vinson & Elkins provides for their teams, with communication across the firm at the heart of this: “The same adoption we do for any big project, we do for AI; it almost feels so big unless you break it down into component parts.” 

Through showcase sessions, firmwide newsletters, and cross-practice discussions, Vinson & Elkins encourages practice areas to share their “AI ahas”: moments of discovery that demonstrate how AI is transforming workflows, collaboration and client service.

“GenAI is not about handing out logins to tools - it’s a sea change in how we think about how the work gets done, how we collaborate together, and how we serve clients.”
– Aubrey Bishai, Vinson & Elkins

Balancing new technology, with data and security

Robyn then steered the conversation from the opportunities of AI in law firms towards the balance of innovation initiatives with data security and client confidentiality. In response to this, Byong underscored the importance of rigorous governance and transparent communication: “We’re diligent about every platform we adopt: auditing, vetting, and communicating clearly with clients. The goal is to stay innovative while protecting confidentiality at every step.” 

His approach combines careful vetting of every AI platform with structured approval processes and firmwide training. A central “red-yellow-green” system guides attorneys on what’s safe to use, ensuring compliance with client restrictions while still allowing thoughtful experimentation.

To close, Aubrey reflected on how conversations with clients have evolved from caution to collaboration at Vinson & Elkins. Where once firms were asked not to use AI, clients now want to explore how it can create value together. She remains optimistic about this evolution, seeing it as a step towards a more human, relationship-driven model of legal service—one that she sees technology enhancing, but never replacing: “I’m in no way concerned that our clients are also engaging with AI. I think that’s fantastic. It’s an opportunity to work more transparently and to build the kind of human relationships that technology will never replace.”

Our panelists 

Aubrey Bishai is Chief Innovation Officer at Vinson & Elkins and has spent 15 years driving technology and process transformation across the firm. Now leading its innovation function, she focuses on helping lawyers adopt AI to transform their workflows. Her team collaborates across practice areas and vendors to bring AI tools directly into the hands of the firm’s team. 

Byong Kim is Chief Data & AI Officer at Seyfarth and has spent over 13 years driving innovation at the intersection of law and technology. He leads Seyfarth Labs, a 25-person team advancing data and AI initiatives across the firm. Byong partnered with Orbital to bring practice-specific AI to Seyfarth’s real estate team: a collaboration that is helping the firm deliver greater value to their clients. 

Robyn Savage is VP of Customer Success at Orbital and chaired the panel. 

About the Orbital Executive Forum

The Orbital Executive Forums bring together senior leaders from leading law firms and corporations shaping the future of real estate. The sessions offer a collaborative platform to examine the opportunities and challenges of applying AI in real estate law: from lessons learned to the pace of change to come. 

With huge thanks to our panelists. If you’d like to join our next Forum, please contact alexandra.lamport@orbital.tech.

‍