Attachment 7 - Questions and Answers Received from Industry.pdf

Vendor Questions

Solicitation 15JA0525Q00000057

1. Is this a brand-new contract, or if there is (was) an incumbent performing these services. If not brand new, could you please provide the current / previous contract number?

Answer: This is a partial re-compete of services being performed under the below contract.

Contract number: 15JA05-20-D-00000004 Vendor: Free State Reporting, Inc.

Award Value: $4,271,155.00

2. There is a requirement with this solicitation for transcription of English audio and Spanish audio (provided work) (Clin 0011-0015), will this contract require transcription of provided work?

Answer: Yes. Solicitation 15JA0525Q00000057 requires the contractor to transcribe both English and Non-English media as provided by the government.

3. Can a court reporter or electronic reporter who are notaries meet the requirements of Section

2.4 Recording Requisites (a)(i) by using a computer, instead of a steno machine, with specialized software that RealTime translates the spoken testimony into written text during a deposition or legal proceeding?

Answer: No. Solicitation 15JA0525Q00000057 requires certified stenographic court reporters and RealTime transcription services. Offerors must propose key personnel resumes that are stenographic court reporters.

4. There is a requirement with this solicitation for transcription of English audio and Spanish audio (provided work) (Clin 0011-0015), will this contract require transcription of provided work?

Answer: CLIN 4013’s period of performance should match the Ordering Period Four CLINs.

The Period of Performance has been corrected to 09/01/2025 – 06/30/2030. Please see the Correct CLIN in Amendment 1.

5. In the statement of work item 1.1(a) it is unclear - will ALL depositions require RealTime transcription?

Answer: Yes. Solicitation 15JA0525Q00000057 is Stenographer court reporter services will RealTime transcription. All depositions require RealTime transcription during proceedings.

6. Item 2.2(ix) on page 4 states: “…Even though the Government has the right to copy and distribute transcripts acquired under this contract, the Government may order additional copies of any transcript.” Can you clarify that this specifically does NOT mean that the USAO has the right to copy and distribute transcripts to adversaries to actions and will ONLY copy and distribute copies internally to AUSAs, paralegals, vendors and experts actively working on the litigation representing the same party as the USAO?

Answer: Per Clause DOJ-05, Security of Department Information and Systems (OCT 2023), deliverables and all associated working papers and material generated by the Contractor developed using DOJ Information, product, source code, and/or methods of operations, are the property of the U.S. Government. As such, the government reserves the right to copy and distribute transcripts as required in performance of its mission.

The Additional Copies of Transcripts CLINs allow the government to order additional copies of original transcripts from the contractor as needed with delivery requirements meeting the pre-determined delivery times. Opposing Counsel requiring certified original transcripts shall place orders directly with the contractor.

7. Since stenographic court reporting is the gold standard of court reporting, would you either provide separate CLINS for stenographic court reporting versus other methods, or in the alternative, rank a bidder higher who only provides stenographic court reporters under this contract?

Answer: See the answer to Question 3 above.

8. Further to question above, who would be the “presiding official” who would give the permission to use non-stenographic reporters – (i.e., the AUSA, the COR or some other individual at the USAO) and would this be on a per deposition basis or on the contract as a whole?

Answer: See the answer to Question 3 above.

9. On page 47 under “Order Limitations” the dollar amount is $1,000.00 which seems very low for an all-day deposition which a may produce a transcript of 300 pages. Can you clarify why a contractor would not be obligated to honor an order for more than $1,000 based on this reality?

Is there a danger of the contractor not being paid for items that total more than $1,000.00?

Answer: The amounts listed on Page 47 are incorrect. Per Section 1.2 (b) of the statement of work, the minimum order limit is $100.00, and the maximum order limit is $200,000.00.

Please see the corrected Far Clause 52.216-19, Order Limitations in Amendment 1.

10. Item 1.3(ii) on page 2 states: “Remote depositions may be required in some instances and will be coordinated by District personnel using DOJ’s video teleconference systems.” Can you confirm what type of video teleconference systems is being used (e.g., Zoom, Webex, Microsoft Teams, etc.).

Answer: The government primarily uses its internal Polycom Video Teleconferencing (VTC) systems; however, depositions may also be conducted using FEDRAMP Certified online platforms such as Microsoft Teams and/or Webex.

11. Further to the above, if the USAO provides the remote platform are they also responsible for providing troubleshooting to attendees?

Answer: Yes. The government is responsible for troubleshooting technical issues during depositions.

12. Further to the above, is the contractor allowed to provide the link for remote depositions (such as Zoom) if requested by the AUSA?

Answer: No. The government is responsible for scheduling and coordinating remote depositions for all attendees.

13. I notice on the sample order form (Fin1), that item 26 is “Invoice.” Is this something the court reporting contractor needs to fill out and is this the method of invoicing, or is this filled out internally at the USAO and we can provide our usual invoice?

Answer: Attachment 2 – USAO – DC Ordering Transcript Fin 1 is the district’s internal request document that will be transmitted to the contractor to initiate a transcript order.

The contractor will invoice separately in accordance with Section 2.10 of the statement of work.

14. The CLINs and amounts are on pages 4 through 17 of the RFP. Must we fill it out our bids on these pages, or can we use a chart of our own making that contains the same information?

Answer: Offerors can submit an excel spreadsheet of its own making provided it includes all of the CLIN information as detailed in Section 2 - Commodity or Services Schedule of the SF-1449 that begins on Page 4.

15. Can answers be posted at least 1 week prior to the due date for submission of bids (7/1/25) to give bidders time to disseminate the information?

Answer: Yes. Answers to the questions received from industry will be posted ASAP.

16. On page 15 of the solicitation, it says that the questions aren’t due until July 9th.

Answer: Questions were due by 12PM EST on Wednesday, June 18, 2025. The above has been corrected in Amendment 1.

17. On the RFP Checklist it states: “Is FAR 52.209-7 Information Regarding Responsibility Matters (Jul 2013) completed online in sam.gov? If not, please submit response with the quote.” I don’t see this clause on sam.gov (Far 52.209-5 is the only one I see). Can you provide a clean copy of it for bidders if we are required to fill it out.

Answer: No. This requirement should be addressed in Volume II – Organizational Past Performance FAR 52.209-7, "Information Regarding Responsibility Matters," is a clause that requires government contractors to disclose certain information about past or pending legal proceedings related to responsibility. This clause is used in solicitations where the contract value is expected to exceed $550,000. The purpose is to help the government assess the contractor's responsibility before awarding a contract.

Disclosure Requirement:

Offerors must disclose information about certain criminal, civil, and administrative proceedings that have occurred within the past five years in connection with the award or performance of a federal contract or grant.

Proceedings Covered:

These proceedings include convictions, findings of fault and liability resulting in monetary penalties or damages, and compromises with acknowledgments of fault.

Monetary Thresholds:

Specific monetary thresholds determine which proceedings must be disclosed. For example, civil or administrative proceedings resulting in monetary penalties or damages exceeding $5,000, or reimbursement, restitution, or damages exceeding $100,000, must be reported.

Consequences of Non-Disclosure:

Failure to disclose the required information or provide additional information requested by the contracting officer may render the offeror non-responsible according to Acquisition.GOV.

18. Section 2.11 Notice to Proceed discusses contractor personnel being cleared before working on the contract. What is the clearance level required? What is the process to get this clearance? What is the estimated timeframe for getting the clearance?

Answer: Solicitation 15JA0525Q00000057 does not require a background investigation.

Section 2.11 has been removed from the updated statement of work in Amendment 1.

19. What should the vendor fill out for “TRAVEL COSTS” on the CLINS since travel will be reimbursed per the JTR?

Answer: Because services are primarily onsite, offerors should incorporate anticipated travels costs into the proposed rates.

20. CLIN 0014 and 0015 are for “Transcription of Non-English” media. What foreign languages do these CLINs cover?

Answer: The exact languages required are unknown as they are dependent on the needs of the litigative matters. Most frequent language required is Spanish. Translation of unique language requirements will be contracted separately as required.

21. Real-time service and hookups for the attorneys have an additional cost to the vendor (over and above the extra cost for rough drafts) and the industry standard is to charge extra to cover this additional cost. Please add CLINs for real-time hookups (each) and real-time service (per page) ?

Answer: As the government expects to cover deposition costs utilizing the three contract line items of attendance fee, rough draft per page, and certified original transcript delivery order, it anticipates the costs for RealTime transcription to be incorporated into those quoted rates.

22. What has been the average number of depositions each year for the past several years?

Answer: The District of Columbia typically conducts 50 – 60 depositions each year.

23. Please confirm that this is for deposition proceedings only and does not include Grand Jury proceedings?

Answer: Solicitation 15JA0525Q00000057 is only for Civil Deposition Stenographer Court Reporter Services.

24. Per Section H.1.1.1 Access to Classified Information:

a. Please confirm if the vendor will need to handle classified work and therefore will need personnel cleared at a level above PTI?

b. If yes, at what level (TS or S) will personnel need to be cleared?

c. Will the vendor need to have a facility clearance?

d. If yes, at what level (TS or S) will the vendor need for its facility clearance?

e. What is the estimated amount of the work will be classified and require cleared personnel and facility?

f. Because handling classified work is much more expensive for a vendor, please add a CLIN for a surcharge to cover these additional costs?

Answer: See the answer to Question 18 above.

25. Can a vendor bid on only the non-classified work?

Answer: Yes. Services detailed under Solicitation 15JA0525Q00000057

26. Per Section H.1.1.2 Access to Unclassified Information, at what Risk level is the work on this contract?

Answer: See the answer to Question 18 above.

27. There are a large number of HUBZone small businesses that can successfully fulfill the requirements of this solicitation. Please make this a HUBZone small business set-aside?’

Answer: Set aside decision are the sole discretion of the government. Solicitation 15JA0525Q00000057 has been designated as a total small business set aside to maximize competition in the deposition market.

28. Please extend due date for bids to allow vendors to incorporate the Q&A?

Answer: Due to operational requirements, the solicitation can not be extended.

Responses are due 12PM EST on Tuesday, July 1st.