Florida-based law firm Carlton Fields has opened up its first New Jersey office, staffing the practice with five commercial and insurance litigators from Florham Park-based Bressler, Amery & Ross.

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 new hires will work in the firm's Short Hills 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 five Fox Rothschild attorneys and six staff to its Washington, D.C., office. The firm's website lists some 330 attorneys across 11 offices, including the new Short Hills post.

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

Bressler Amery has about 170 attorneys in six offices. Aside from Florham Park and New York, the firm has two Florida offices, in Miami and Fort Lauderdale; an office in Washington, D.C.; and one in Birmingham, Alabama.

The firm has grown at a significant clip in recent years, both in terms of revenue and attorney population, according to reports from the Law Journal and its affiliates.