JPMorgan Chase & Co shuffled the management of its deals advisory business on Thursday, moving two long-time managers to senior relationship roles and hiring a prominent corporate lawyer.

Jimmy Elliott, who has been global head of M&A for more than five years, will become global chairman of M&A and work with the firm's most important clients on strategic transactions.

James Woolery, a partner at law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore, will join JPMorgan on February 7 as co-head of North America M&A, with Chris Ventresca staying on as the other head.

It is not unusual for an M&A lawyer to move to investment banking, and Woolery has worked with JPMorgan bankers on deals.

As one of JPMorgan's senior partners at Cravath, we've had the opportunity to work closely with Jim Woolery, said Jeff Urwin, co-head of North America Investment Banking.

Jeff Stute, who became co-head of North America M&A in 2008, will become head of North America healthcare coverage group, taking over from Robbie Huffines, who had the job for eight years.

Huffines will become vice chairman of investment banking and focus on client relationships.

Last year, JPMorgan took the No. 3 slot behind Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley in the rankings of advisers based on deals announced worldwide, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Elliott, Woolery, Ventresca, Stute and Huffines will report to Urwin and Kevin Willsey, co-heads of North America Investment Banking.

RAINMAKERS

Elliott, a veteran of deals such as Exxon's $86 billion takeover of Mobil in 1999, has been involved personally in some of JPMorgan's largest M&A assignments.

Woolery's recent clients include Air Products & Chemicals , National City and Universal Health .

Stute, who joined JPMorgan in 1994, has advised on deals such as Merck's $41 billion acquisition of Schering Plough and Universal Health on its $2 billion deal to buy Psychiatric Solutions.

Huffines' deals include advising Sanofi-Aventis on a $18.5 billion bid for Genzyme Corp .

(Reporting by Paritosh Bansal; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Lawyer