Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP is pleased to announce that Elijah Hammans has joined the firm’s Indianapolis office as a partner in its private equity, mergers and acquisitions, and finance practices.

Prior to joining Taft, Hammans was a partner in the Chicago office of McDermott Will & Emery and an attorney in the New York office of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. His practice is focused on representing private equity funds and other equity sponsors in connection with the acquisition, recapitalization and sale of their portfolio companies. Hammans is also regularly involved in strategic merger and acquisition activity, securities offerings and venture capital transactions.

Bob Hicks, partner-in-charge of Taft’s Indianapolis office and one of the heads of the firm’s private equity practice group, said, “We are delighted that Elijah selected Taft as the next step in his impressive career. He was heralded as a superstar at McDermott and we look forward to the contributions and additional depth he will bring to our team through his experience in private equity and capital market transactions.”

The addition of Hammans closely follows the hiring of Katharine S. Mascarenhas, a former partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Chicago who joined Taft’s Indianapolis office as a member of the firm’s robust private equity, mergers and acquisitions and finance practices. The firm’s private equity and venture capital practice group includes more than 40 attorneys and is nationally ranked in the top tier for venture capital law by U.S. News – Best Lawyers.