That means more hiring, more practice groups, and even more competition for elite West Coast talent in an already overheated lateral market.<\/p>\n
The move follows the firm\u2019s recruitment of longtime Skadden Los Angeles office leader Jason Russell to head up the new operation, a hire that immediately signaled Davis Polk wasn\u2019t interested in a modest California debut. And based on Russell\u2019s comments to Am Law, the firm\u2019s expansion plans extend well beyond litigation.<\/p>\n
The office \u201cwill bolster litigation,\u201d Russell said, while adding that it will also be \u201cstrong in the entertainment space, life sciences and tech.\u201d In other words: Davis Polk wants in on virtually every lucrative sector Los Angeles has to offer.<\/p>\n
Firm chair Neil Barr echoed those ambitions, noting that the office\u2019s transactional capabilities will continue to grow as well.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cYou\u2019ll see our corporate transactional footprint expand there as well as the sectors that Jason alluded to,\u201d Barr said. \u201cWe are going to be opportunistic with private equity and (venture capital) work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Of course, having nearly $10 million in profits per partner probably doesn\u2019t hurt when it comes to recruiting, and gives the firm plenty of firepower as it competes for top lateral talent.<\/p>\n
Barr was candid about one reason behind the expansion: \u201cWe concluded that our current office footprint was artificially limiting our ability to attract certain talent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Translation: elite firms increasingly need a California presence if they want access to the full pool of rainmakers and rising stars.<\/p>\n
And per Barr, Davis Polk certainly doesn\u2019t sound worried about its ability to scale up quickly in a crowded market:<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe will do what we do everywhere: Hire the best lawyers in the geography we are in.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Simple enough. Best of luck to Davis Polk on building out its brand new Los Angeles outpost.<\/p>\n
Davis Polk Eyes Full-Service Office in LA, Recruiting More Talent<\/a> [American Lawyer]<\/p>\n
\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to\u00a0email<\/a>\u00a0her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
The post Biglaw\u2019s Los Angeles Talent Wars Just Got More Intense Thanks To Davis Polk<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Davis Polk & Wardwell isn\u2019t wasting any time making itself at home in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
Just weeks after announcing its long-awaited L.A. launch, the firm is already reportedly looking to build out a full-service office in Southern California, not merely plant a flag with a few high-profile lateral hires and call it a day. According to a new report from the American Lawyer<\/a>, Davis Polk has much bigger ambitions for the market.<\/p>\n
That means more hiring, more practice groups, and even more competition for elite West Coast talent in an already overheated lateral market.<\/p>\n
The move follows the firm\u2019s recruitment of longtime Skadden Los Angeles office leader Jason Russell to head up the new operation, a hire that immediately signaled Davis Polk wasn\u2019t interested in a modest California debut. And based on Russell\u2019s comments to Am Law, the firm\u2019s expansion plans extend well beyond litigation.<\/p>\n
The office \u201cwill bolster litigation,\u201d Russell said, while adding that it will also be \u201cstrong in the entertainment space, life sciences and tech.\u201d In other words: Davis Polk wants in on virtually every lucrative sector Los Angeles has to offer.<\/p>\n
Firm chair Neil Barr echoed those ambitions, noting that the office\u2019s transactional capabilities will continue to grow as well.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cYou\u2019ll see our corporate transactional footprint expand there as well as the sectors that Jason alluded to,\u201d Barr said. \u201cWe are going to be opportunistic with private equity and (venture capital) work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Of course, having nearly $10 million in profits per partner probably doesn\u2019t hurt when it comes to recruiting, and gives the firm plenty of firepower as it competes for top lateral talent.<\/p>\n
Barr was candid about one reason behind the expansion: \u201cWe concluded that our current office footprint was artificially limiting our ability to attract certain talent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Translation: elite firms increasingly need a California presence if they want access to the full pool of rainmakers and rising stars.<\/p>\n
And per Barr, Davis Polk certainly doesn\u2019t sound worried about its ability to scale up quickly in a crowded market:<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe will do what we do everywhere: Hire the best lawyers in the geography we are in.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Simple enough. Best of luck to Davis Polk on building out its brand new Los Angeles outpost.<\/p>\n
Davis Polk Eyes Full-Service Office in LA, Recruiting More Talent<\/a> [American Lawyer]<\/p>\n
\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Staci Zaretsky<\/a>\u00a0is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she\u2019s worked since 2011. She\u2019d love to hear from you, so please feel free to\u00a0email<\/a>\u00a0her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on\u00a0Bluesky<\/a>,\u00a0X\/Twitter<\/a>, and\u00a0Threads<\/a>,\u00a0or connect with her on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
The post Biglaw\u2019s Los Angeles Talent Wars Just Got More Intense Thanks To Davis Polk<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Davis Polk & Wardwell isn\u2019t wasting any time making itself at home in Los Angeles. Just weeks after announcing its long-awaited L.A. launch, the firm is already reportedly looking to build out a full-service office in Southern California, not merely plant a flag with a few high-profile lateral hires and call it a day. According […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":151302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Staci-Zaretsky-tg7u1a.jpg?fit=150%2C100&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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