Carlton Fields has opened up its first New Jersey office, staffing the practice with five commercial and insurance litigators.

Robert Novack and Michael Margulies join as shareholders; Charles Stotter joins as of counsel; and Christina Gallo and J. Emma Mintz have been hired as associates. The attorneys jumped from Bressler, Amery & Ross.

The new hires will work in the firm's Short Hills, New Jersey, and New York City offices as part of Carlton Fields' trial and insurance practice. Novack will run the new office as managing shareholder.

“The team is a perfect fit for Carlton Fields,” said Carlton Fields Property and Casualty Insurance group co-chair Steven J. Brodie in a statement. “They are outstanding attorneys who are well-versed in two of our core competencies: complex commercial litigation and insurance law.”

Novack said that the team would also greatly benefit from joining the firm.

“Carlton Fields offered us a unique value proposition: the combined assets of a larger firm with the kind of dedication to personal client service that we as a smaller firm have always featured,” Novack said in a statement.

In December, Carlton Fields announced an expansion of its real estate and housing finance practice, adding 5 Fox Rothschild attorneys to its Washington, D.C., office.

A spokesperson for Bressler, Amery & Ross could not immediately be reached for comment on the departures.