Two new associates joined Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor's intellectual property litigation section, the firm announced. 

Nicholas D. Picollelli Jr. and Joseph F. Ecker will both be based in the firm's Wilmington office. 

In addition to practicing IP law, Picollelli has experience practicing asbestos law. He earned his Juris Doctor from Widener University Delaware Law School and clerked for Judges William L. Witham Jr. of the Delaware Superior Court and Charles W. Welch III of the Delaware Court of Common Pleas.

Ecker focuses his practice on patent litigation and was previously a patent examiner with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. 

He served as a judicial extern for U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis of the District of Maryland while attending the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law.