Trinity Hunt Exits IMS Legal Following Acquisition-Led Expansion

Trinity Hunt Partners has sold IMS Legal Strategies, a provider of litigation support services, to Uplift Investors.

IMS Legal’s services include expert witness search and placement, litigation consulting, jury consulting, trial graphics and presentation technologies.

Trinity Hunt acquired a majority interest in IMS ExpertServices (now IMS Legal Strategies) in November 2017 and, in partnership with management, executed a multi-year build-out of a comprehensive litigation services platform through 14 acquisitions.

The firm expanded core capabilities across trial consulting, jury research, visual communications, and expert witness sourcing. Notable additions included The Focal Point and Z-Axis in trial graphics and presentation; Litigation Insights, MMG Jury Consulting, and First Court in jury research and trial strategy; Juris Medicus and Teklicon in expert sourcing; and Analytic Focus and MacKenzie Life Care Planning in economic analysis and damages assessment. Additional transactions, including Tsongas Litigation Consulting, MMR Strategy Group, and the trial division of Precise, further extended the platform’s service breadth.

Dallas-headquartered IMS Legal Strategies, led by CEO James Crane, now operates across the full litigation lifecycle, serving more than 21,500 clients—including Am Law 200 firms and Fortune 500 companies—across the United States and the United Kingdom.

“The strength of IMS is the quality of our people and the trust our clients place in us when the stakes are the highest,” said Mr. Crane. “Trinity Hunt recognized this early and invested in the team, technology, and strategy needed to meet the growing demand for sophisticated expertise-focused litigation support. We are proud of what we’ve built, and we look forward to continuing that momentum.”

“From the moment Trinity Hunt partnered with IMS, it was clear this was a business defined by the quality of its people and the loyalty of its clients,” said Pete Stein, senior partner and co-founder of Trinity Hunt. “Together, we transformed the business into a differentiated, market-leading platform through strategic acquisitions and operational investments. We wish the entire IMS team continued success as they take this platform to its next level.”

In acquiring IMS Legal, Uplift stated that the buy aligns with the firm’s focus on services businesses operating at the intersection of multiple business models, including network-based platforms and professional services. IMS represents the firm’s second investment since its 2025 launch and expands its presence in legal services.

Darien, Connecticut-based Uplift Investors was founded in 2025 by Will Hausberg, Doug Rosenstein, and Brad Skaf—all former professionals of Gridiron Capital. The firm invests in North America-based services businesses with $10 million to $40 million of EBITDA. Services subsectors of interest include knowledge and talent, legal services, financial services, technical trades, and industrial services.

In January 2026, the firm completed its first transaction with the formation of Orion Legal, a management services organization (MSO) created in partnership with Dudley DeBosier Injury Lawyers, a Louisiana-based personal injury law firm. Orion Legal’s services include marketing, finance, technology, and administrative work for partner firms, separating non-legal functions from legal practice. This structure is necessary given regulatory restrictions that limit non-lawyer ownership of law firms in most jurisdictions.

“IMS’s scale, reputation and embedded role in providing expertise for high-stakes legal workflows creates a powerful network effect and a durable competitive advantage at the center of a large, growing and non-cyclical market,” said Will Hausberg, a managing partner at Uplift.

“Drawing on our experience investing in and scaling dual-sided networks, we see a clear opportunity to accelerate growth through targeted investments in technology and data enablement, enhanced go-to-market execution and continued strategic M&A to further strengthen the platform,” said Doug Rosenstein, a managing partner at Uplift. In this context, a dual-sided network refers to a business model that connects two distinct user groups—such as clients and service providers—whose interactions create mutual value.

Trinity Hunt invests from $15 million to $70 million of equity in founder- and family-owned companies that have revenues of at least $10 million and EBITDA of at least $2 million. Sectors of interest include business services, healthcare services, and consumer services. In February 2024, the firm held an oversubscribed closing of Trinity Hunt Partners VII LP at its hard cap, with $700 million of capital commitments.

Deloitte Corporate Finance was the financial advisor to IMS Legal, and Robert W. Baird & Co. and Piper Sandler advised Uplift.