Miami litigation boutique firm Mark Migdal & Hayden has opened an office in Westwood.

The firm, which specializes in banking and finance litigation, launched here with attorneys Paul Levin and Lauren Gibbs, who brought with them their support staff and many clients from Mortgage Recovery Law Group in Glendale. Levin said he and Gibbs, who have worked together for a decade, were “no strangers” to Mark Migdal & Hayden when approached with an offer of joining the firm.

This is Mark Migdal & Hayden’s  first ever expansion.

“We have collaborated on cases going back to their founding,” he said. “They have worked with us on Florida matters, and we have worked with them on California matters, so we were really accustomed to each other. We were about as close as attorneys can be without being in the same firm, so it was a logical step to join them formally.”

The firm said Levin and Gibbs bring strong background and experience in litigating loan fraud claims on behalf of government entities, banks and other lenders.

“Paul and Lauren bring deep expertise in the area of financial fraud litigation, which we expect to continue to increase exponentially in the coming years,” founding partner Etan Mark said in a statement. “We’ve collaborated with Paul and Lauren for more than a decade on cases throughout the country, and their alignment with our credo, work ethic, and staunch practice expertise brings a natural synergy to our team.”

On top of this expansion, the firm also added four attorneys to its home office, signaling that it is on a growth path.

“The plan is absolutely growth mode,” Levin said. “A lot of our work for clients is cyclical in nature and we’re already starting to see spikes up in different types of loan categories. We’re growing and we’re anticipating that our clients’ needs are growing.”