Kirkland & Ellis has appointed corporate lawyer Jeffrey Hammes as the new chair of the firm's 15-lawyer management committee, reports The Am Law Daily.

Private equity specialist Hammes will replace Washington DC-based litigator Thomas Yannucci, who has held the position since 2001.

Richard Cieri, the co-head of the firm's restructuring practice and a member of the committee, said that the change was made as Yannucci is approaching his 60th birthday and the firm's bylaws say that no one 60 or older can serve on the committee.

Hammes' appointment has also been cited as evidence that Kirkland is shifting its focus from its litigation roots to corporate M&A and private equity.

The committee designated Hammes as Yannucci's successor last year so he could shadow Yannucci for a year and get a sense of his duties, said Cieri.

Hammes, who has been at Kirkland since finishing law school in 1985, works with clients including Boston-based private equity giant Bain Capital. He advised Bain when it teamed up with Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts to buy Toys R Us for $6.6bn (£4bn) in 2005.

Hammes has also been a big proponent of Kirkland's expansion, helping to launch the firm's San Francisco office in 2003 and its Palo Alto office last year.

Cieri added that people should not expect drastic changes, since Hammes represents Kirkland culture as much as anyone at the firm. "He's been here from day one," he said.

The Am Law Daily is the website of The American Lawyer, Legal Week's US sister title.