Legal Services Acquisitions in 2023

Boston-based WestView Capital Partners has made a growth investment in Physician Life Care Planning (PLCP), a San Antonio–headquartered provider of physician-authored life care plans and damages valuation services. The investment will be used to enhance PLCP's technology, infrastructure, and team to accelerate growth across new and existing geographies; financial terms were not disclosed.

RFE Investment Partners and Knox Capital completed a recapitalization of BryteBridge Group, an outsourced compliance, legal and filing services provider for nonprofit organizations. The transaction brings new executive leadership (Mike Bryant as CEO, Larry Marshall as CFO), keeps Brian Davis as President, and positions BryteBridge to expand into a technology-enabled full-service legal and compliance platform and pursue buy-and-build opportunities into the for-profit SMB market.

Georgetown, Texas-based litigation support firm Array has acquired Denver-based Litigation Solutions Inc. (LSi), adding eDiscovery, document scanning, collections & forensics, and trial/deposition support to Array's offerings. The deal expands Array's geographic footprint into the Mountain West and broadens its litigation support capabilities for law firms, corporate counsel, and government clients.

Epiq has acquired Mainspring Consulting Group, a specialist in contract lifecycle management (CLM) strategy, implementation, and contract migrations, to expand its Contracts Solutions offering. The deal adds CLM system integration and implementation expertise — including vendor partnerships with Agiloft, Conga, Ironclad, ContractPodAI, and Malbek — to Epiq’s Legal Service Management capabilities.

Lexitas, a Houston-based provider of technology-enabled litigation services and a portfolio company of funds advised by Apax, has acquired Evolution Process Service, a Indianapolis-based litigation support and process-serving firm. The deal expands Lexitas's footprint into the greater Indianapolis legal market and brings Evolution's local client base and expertise into Lexitas's broader suite of litigation support services.

Array, a nationwide litigation support firm, has acquired Acorn Legal Solutions to enhance Array's eDiscovery capabilities and expand its geographic footprint (including increased presence in Michigan, Chicago and Texas). The acquisition brings Acorn's eDiscovery expertise and client relationships into Array's platform; Kenyon Group served as exclusive financial advisor to Acorn.

Easterly Asset Management announced a strategic partnership with Lateral Investment Management and co-invested $35 million alongside Lateral in Morae Global, a technology service provider for the legal industry. The partnership will provide capital, technology and operational support to help Morae scale its legal technology and services.

Align Capital Partners (ACP) has acquired Counsel Press, Inc., a New York–headquartered, tech-enabled legal process outsourcing provider focused on appellate and litigation support services, from Gladstone Investment Corporation. ACP intends to partner with management to accelerate growth, build a diversified legal services platform and pursue add-on M&A to expand Counsel Press's offerings to law firms and corporate legal departments.

Magna Legal Services, LLC acquired City Record Services (CRS), a San Diego-based record retrieval firm, in a transaction completed October 18, 2023. The deal expands Magna's record retrieval capabilities across California and the West Coast and integrates CRS's team under Magna's Record Retrieval division while CRS founders will remain in leadership roles.

Repario has acquired Breakwater Solutions, an information governance and eDiscovery specialist, bringing Breakwater's leadership and AI-driven data discovery capabilities into Repario's service portfolio. The deal expands Repario's offerings in data privacy, information governance and next‑generation eDiscovery, positioning the combined business to deliver integrated solutions for legal, compliance and cybersecurity use cases.

Registered Agent Solutions, Inc. (RASi), a Lexitas company, has acquired Harrisburg, Pennsylvania–based Esquire Assist, Ltd. and AAAgent Services, LLC. The acquisition expands RASi’s registered agent, UCC/lien search and corporate filing capabilities and continues a long-standing partnership between the firms.

Surge Private Equity has added managed review and legal staffing provider Tower Legal Solutions to its Avalon platform. Tower, headquartered in New York, will augment Avalon's eDiscovery, cybersecurity and litigation support capabilities; the transaction included debt financing from Woodforest National Bank and NorthCoast Mezzanine.

Boundless Immigration acquired Bridge on August 22, 2023, combining Bridge’s purpose-built visa application software and legal expertise with Boundless’s consumer and employer immigration platform. The deal creates a tech-driven, end-to-end immigration solution for both businesses and individual families, enabling customers to manage corporate immigration programs and personal immigration journeys in one offering.

U.S. Legal Support has completed the acquisition of TrialEx, a Tampa-based provider of jury consulting, trial graphics, and trial presentation services. The deal expands U.S. Legal Support’s litigation support capabilities and national footprint by adding TrialEx’s team of litigation consultants, multimedia designers, medical illustrators, and forensic animators.

Envoy Global, a Palladium Equity Partners-backed immigration technology and services platform, acquired Sesam Immigration, a UAE-based provider of immigration, visa and HR consulting services. Simultaneously, Corporate Immigration Partners (CIP) and Global Immigration Associates (GIA) combined and formed Corporate Immigration Partners, P.C. (CIP PC), which acquired Hammond Neal Moore, LLP (HNM) in Cincinnati; the combined law firm will be exclusively affiliated with Envoy Global to expand global capabilities and presence in the GCC and U.S.

Consilio has agreed to acquire Lawyers On Demand (LOD) and SYKE from Bowmark Capital, expanding its enterprise legal services, flexible talent, and legal technology consulting capabilities. The deal extends Consilio's global footprint—strengthening its presence in the UK, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia—and brings LOD's 4,500+ practitioner community and SYKE's legal tech expertise into Consilio's offering.

AURELIUS has agreed to acquire UK property search aggregation provider TM Group Limited from Dye & Durham Corporation in a transaction valued at up to GBP 91 million. The deal, a corporate carve-out that has received UK Competition and Markets Authority approval, positions AURELIUS to build a platform in the UK property services/conveyancing market; TM Group generated c. GBP 62 million of revenue in 2022.

LDC, the private equity investor part of Lloyds Banking Group, has made a minority growth investment in tech‑enabled legal services group The Barrister Group (TBG), backing co‑founders Harry Hodgkin and Stephen Ward and the existing management team. The funding will support recruitment of more barristers and instructions and further investment in TBG's proprietary Chambers365 technology; LDC partners will join the board.

Knox Capital, a Chicago-based private equity firm, has acquired GODeeds, a national provider of attorney-prepared documents. The deal is an add-on to Knox's existing legal document holdings (including bundle) and will keep founder Frank Dec, Esq. as CEO while expanding Knox's market share in estate planning and real estate document services.

Marin and Barrett Law Firm and the Law Offices of Stefanie A. Murphy announced a strategic merger to form the Marin, Barrett, and Murphy Law Firm, combining expertise in criminal defense, DUI defense, and personal injury. The new firm will consolidate resources and expand its presence across Rhode Island, Connecticut, and South Carolina to offer a broader range of legal services to clients in the Northeast.

OpSec Security has completed its acquisition of Zacco, a leading European intellectual property (IP) management firm. The deal expands OpSec’s capabilities to offer a full lifecycle solution for IP and brand optimization, monetization, and protection, and Zacco CEO Mats Boström will join the OpSec executive team.

DarrowEverett LLP has acquired Massachusetts-based Rampart Law Group LLC to strengthen its renewable energy practice and expand private wealth and tax capabilities. The acquisition adds renewable energy, permitting, regulatory, and tax expertise to DarrowEverett’s full-service legal platform as the firm continues its strategic growth across multiple U.S. offices.

Repario, a portfolio company of JLL Partners, has acquired Modus eDiscovery, Inc. from Azalea Capital. Modus, headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, provides e-discovery, information governance and data management services to law firms, corporations and government agencies; the Modus leadership team will remain with the business and the deal is positioned to expand Repario’s national presence and service offering.

Los Angeles-based law firm Raines Feldman has added Chicago-based Sugar Felsenthal Grais & Helsinger (SFGH), expanding Raines Feldman’s national footprint and establishing a Chicago office. The transaction brings SFGH’s estate planning, tax, litigation, real estate, affordable housing and other practices into Raines Feldman’s platform to broaden capabilities for middle-market and high-net-worth clients.

Greybull Stewardship, a private investment firm, has acquired Courtroom Connect, a provider of litigation support connectivity and legal event streaming. The investment will support Courtroom Connect's growth and expansion of its Remote Counsel and Courtroom View Network (CVN) offerings.

Lexitas, a portfolio company of funds advised by Apax, has acquired Elite-Brentwood Reporting Services to expand its legal support footprint in the U.S. Southeast. Founder and owner Max Curry will join Lexitas as the team integrates to accelerate growth across the Nashville–Memphis markets and surrounding states.

Lexitas, a portfolio company of funds advised by Apax, has acquired Enright Court Reporting, a Long Island–based court reporting firm founded by Colleen West in 1991. The add-on strengthens Lexitas’ presence in the Northeastern U.S. and expands its court reporting and litigation support capabilities in the greater New York market.

HBR Consulting, a Renovus-backed legal consulting firm, has acquired Younts Consulting to expand its content management and collaboration capabilities, including document and records management, information governance, and complex cloud deployments. The acquisition integrates Younts’ experienced CM&C team into HBR to broaden services for law firms, corporate law departments, and government clients.

Lexitas, a portfolio company of funds advised by Apax, has acquired Kusar Court Reporters, a Long Beach, California-based court reporting and litigation support firm founded in 1983. The acquisition expands Lexitas' presence in the Western U.S. and adds Kusar's realtime court reporting capabilities to Lexitas' technology-enabled litigation services platform.

Smith Gambrell & Russell, LLP and Freeborn & Peters LLP have combined, with the merged firm operating under the Smith Gambrell Russell name effective March 1, 2023. The combination creates a nearly 400-attorney global firm (AmLaw ~132) and is intended to expand geographic footprint and complementary practice capabilities—particularly bolstering corporate and litigation platforms and adding strength in insurance/reinsurance and international arbitration.

Meltzer, Purtill & Stelle LLC (MPS Law) acquired Chicago-based Kaplan Saunders Valente & Beninati LLP (KSVB), effective January 1, 2023. Five KSVB attorneys joined MPS, bolstering MPS's commercial real estate, lending and M&A practices while adding ADA litigation, employment law and equipment leasing capabilities.

Brouse McDowell announced that the lawyers of Ekker, Kuster, McCall and Epstein (EKME) will join Brouse McDowell effective January 1, 2023, adding eight attorneys and expanding the combined firm to nearly 90 attorneys across six offices. The combination expands Brouse McDowell's geographic footprint into western Pennsylvania and broadens its capabilities across practice areas including corporate transactions, commercial litigation, estate planning, and cybersecurity.