Five Choate attorneys – Ronen Adato, Andrew Norkiewicz, Benjamin Owens, Michael Schmitt, and Becca Glikman Weil – have been elected as principals, effective May 1, 2026. Ronen Adato, PhD | As a Principal in the Intellectual Property Group, Ronen works with clients in a variety of technology sectors – including machine learning-enabled biotechnology, medical imaging, optics, and diagnostics – to build and leverage IP portfolios, advising on patent prosecution, due diligence, transactions, competitive landscape analysis, and enforcement. Andrew Norkiewicz | As Principal in the Private Equity and M&A Group, Andrew represents private equity funds and their portfolio companies in a range of transactions including mergers and acquisitions, equity investments, strategic transactions, and general corporate matters, with particular experience in cross-border transactions involving the UK. Benjamin Owens | As Principal in the Private Equity and M&A Group, Ben represents predominantly private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies as well as private and public company borrowers in a broad range of secured and unsecured finance transactions, including acquisition financings, refinancings, asset-based finance and cross-border deals. Michael Schmitt, PhD | As Principal in the Intellectual Property Group, Michael counsels clients ranging from early-stage startups to large companies and investment funds in patent portfolio strategy, due diligence, freedom-to-operate, and pre-litigation and litigation matters across diverse technology spaces including bioinformatics and computer vision software, medical devices, batteries, and semiconductor devices. Becca Glikman Weil | As Principal in the Private Equity and M&A Group, Becca represents private equity firms, their portfolio companies, and privately owned businesses in mergers and acquisitions, carve-outs, growth equity investments, and other strategic transactions, and advises on general corporate governance matters across industries including software, consumer products, professional services, and wealth management.