Elazar Guttman, a private equity lawyer who has spent his 17-year career at Kirkland & Ellis, joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld as a New York-based partner Thursday.

Guttman, mostly recently a Kirkland equity partner, represents sponsors in the middle-market private equity space. Akin Gump’s strength in that area and related practices such as debt finance, tax and intellectual property drew him to the firm, Guttman said in an interview.