Davis Polk Hires Skadden's Global Media Deals Chief to Build Out New Los Angeles Office
Davis Polk has hired Glen Mastroberte, the global head of Skadden's media and entertainment group, as a partner in its M&A practice. Mastroberte spent seven years at Skadden, where he recently advised Netflix on its proposed $82.7bn acquisition of Warner Bros. and Hailey Bieber's rhode in its $1bn acquisition by e.l.f. Beauty. The move reunites Mastroberte with civil litigation partner Jason Russell, who joined Davis Polk earlier this year to launch its Los Angeles office after 24 years at Skadden. The LA office now numbers seven lawyers, including finance partner Rob Morrison, who joined from White & Case in 2025. Mastroberte's practice spans M&A, financings, strategic partnerships, joint ventures, and branding, licensing and endorsement transactions, clients include SharkNinja (deals with Tom Brady and David Beckham) and former Warner Bros. Records CEO Todd Moscowitz. The hire follows Davis Polk's June recruitment of Hogan Lovells' global M&A chief Bill Curtin in Washington DC. Davis Polk and Skadden ranked among Big Law's top ten M&A dealmakers in the first three quarters of 2026, with Davis Polk working on $277bn of deals against Skadden's $38bn, per London Stock Exchange Group data.
Why this matters
Davis Polk's accelerated build-out of a full-service Los Angeles office signals the firm's conviction that media, entertainment and sports have become a permanent fixture of sophisticated transactional work, not a niche specialism. Mastroberte's arrival, the second major Skadden defection to the same Davis Polk LA team, underscores a broader war for lateral M&A talent in Southern California, driven by private capital's deepening interest in content and IP-rich assets. The London Stock Exchange Group dealflow data published alongside the story ($277bn for Davis Polk versus $38bn for Skadden YTD) gives the competitive context real weight: Davis Polk is consolidating market share at the highest end of global M&A while simultaneously expanding geography. For Skadden, losing the global head of a flagship industry group is a reputational as well as economic event.
On the Ground
The story activates lateral hire due diligence, conflict-check protocols and partner integration work across both firms. On the Davis Polk side, associates and trainees would be expected to update client relationship management systems, draft client announcements and prepare pitch materials repositioning the LA office's expanded capability. For Skadden, the immediate task is succession planning for the media and entertainment group leadership. The Hogan Lovells connection, Davis Polk also hired Bill Curtin, Hogan Lovells' global M&A chief, in June, points to a pattern of targeted, senior-level extraction from rival platforms that boutique and mid-market firms will need to track.
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