EMI III_RFP_1605C1-21-R-00004_AMEND 1.pdf

(x)

1605C1-21-R-00004 x x copies of the amendment; (b) By acknowledging receipt of this amendment on each copy of the offer submitted ; or (c) By separate letter or telegram which includes a reference to the solicitation and amendment numbers. FAILURE OF YOUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT TO BE RECEIVED AT

THE PLACE DESIGNATED FOR THE RECEIPT OF OFFERS PRIOR TO THE HOUR AND DATE SPECIFIED MAY RESULT IN REJECTION OF YOUR OFFER. If by virtue of this amendment you desire to change an offer already submitted , such change may be made by telegram or letter, provided each telegram or letter makes reference to the solicitation and this amendment, and is received prior to the opening hour and date specified.

x

Washington DC 20210

CAS

S-4307 200 Constitution Ave, NW Customer Acquisition Services US Department of Labor

03/31/20210001

13. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO MODIFICATION OF CONTRACTS/ORDERS. IT MODIFIES THE CONTRACT/ORDER NO. AS DESCRIBED IN ITEM 14.

12. ACCOUNTING AND APPROPRIATION DATA (If required) is not extended.is extended, Items 8 and 15, and returning

Offers must acknowledge receipt of this amendment prior to the hour and date specified in the solicitation or as amended , by one of the following methods: (a) By completing

The above numbered solicitation is amended as set forth in Item 14. The hour and date specified for receipt of Offers

11. THIS ITEM ONLY APPLIES TO AMENDMENTS OF SOLICITATIONS

FACILITY CODE CODE

10B. DATED (SEE ITEM 13)

10A. MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT/ORDER NO.

9B. DATED (SEE ITEM 11)

9A. AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION NO.

CODE

8. NAME AND ADDRESS OF CONTRACTOR (No., street, county, State and ZIP Code)

7. ADMINISTERED BY (If other than Item 6)CODE 6. ISSUED BY

PAGE OF PAGES

4. REQUISITION/PURCHASE REQ. NO.3. EFFECTIVE DATE2. AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION NO. 5. PROJECT NO. (If applicable)

1. CONTRACT ID CODE

AMENDMENT OF SOLICITATION/MODIFICATION OF CONTRACT

03/31/2021

CHECK ONE A. THIS CHANGE ORDER IS ISSUED PURSUANT TO: (Specify authority) THE CHANGES SET FORTH IN ITEM 14 ARE MADE IN THE CONTRACT

B. THE ABOVE NUMBERED CONTRACT/ORDER IS MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CHANGES (such as changes in paying office, C. THIS SUPPLEMENTAL AGREEMENT IS ENTERED INTO PURSUANT TO AUTHORITY OF:

D. OTHER (Specify type of modification and authority) appropriation date, etc.) SET FORTH IN ITEM 14, PURSUANT TO THE AUTHORITY OF FAR 43.103(b).

E. IMPORTANT: Contractor is not, is required to sign this document and return __________________ copies to the issuing office.

ORDER NO. IN ITEM 10A.

14. DESCRIPTION OF AMENDMENT/MODIFICATION (Organized by UCF section headings, including solicitation/contract subject matter where feasible.)

THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR (DOL), ON BEHALF OF THE OFFICE OF SOLICITOR (SOL) HAS A REQUIREMENT

TO PROCURE E-DISCOVERY, LITIGATION SUPPORT, AND HOSTED EVIDENCE MANAGEMENT SOLUTION (“EMI

III”). THE PURPOSE OF THIS AMENDMENT IS TO RESPOND TO ALL REQUEST FOR CLARIFICATION (RFC)

THAT WERE RECEIVED ON APRIL 8, 2021.

RESPONSES TO THE RFP ARE NOW DUE BY: Friday, May 7, 2021, 1400 EST.

SUBMIT ALL RESPONSES VIA E-MAIL TO JOHNSON.DAVEANA@DOL.GOV WITH A SUBJECT LINE "EMI III -

CONTRACTOR NAME".

16A. NAME AND TITLE OF CONTRACTING OFFICER (Type or print)15A. NAME AND TITLE OF SIGNER (Type or print)

15C. DATE SIGNED 16B. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 15B. CONTRACTOR/OFFEROR 16C. DATE SIGNED

(Signature of person authorized to sign) (Signature of Contracting Officer)

Ericka Graham

STANDARD FORM 30 (REV. 10-83)

Prescribed by GSA

FAR (48 CFR) 53.243

NSN 7540-01-152-8070

Previous edition unusable

Except as provided herein, all terms and conditions of the document referenced in Item 9 A or 10A, as heretofore changed, remains unchanged and in full force and effect .

TEL: EMAIL: 404-302-5820 graham.ericka@dol.gov

L - Instructions, Conditions, and Notices to Bidders

INSTRUCTIONS – TO OFFERORS

Provisions that are incorporated by reference (by Citation Number, Title, and Date), have the same force and effect as if they were given in full text.

SUBMISSION: The requirements are Volumes I-Technical, II-Past Performance, III-Price. Files shall not contain classified data.

The intent of this standardized format is not to limit creativity. Creativity is permitted within the parameters below to allow the Government a more fair and easy assessment of offers.

Questions (Request for Clarification) regarding this RFP must be submitted using Attachment II - Question and Answer Spreadsheet to DaVeana Johnson via email at: Johnson.DaVeana@dol.gov. Questions must be submitted no later than April 8, 2021 at 1400 EST.

Responses to questions submitted will be responded to via an Amendment.

Past Performance Questionnaires must be submitted using Attachment I - Past Performance Questionnaire to DaVeana Johnson via email at: Johnson.DaVeana@dol.gov. Questionnaires must be submitted no later than May 7, 2021 at 1400 EST. Please enter "EMI-III Past Performance Questionnaire" as the subject line.

A. Format. The submission shall be clearly indexed and logically assembled. Each volume shall be appropriately numbered and clearly identified with the date and solicitation number in the header and/or footer and shall begin at the top of each page. A Table of Contents should be created using the Table of Contents feature in MS Word. MS Word (.doc) files shall use the following page setup parameters.

Margins – Top, Bottom, Left, Right – 1” Gutter – 0” From Edge – Header, Footer – 0.5” Page Size, Width – 8.5” Page Size, Height – 11”

The following additional restrictions apply: Each paragraph shall be separated by at least one blank line. A standard, 12-point minimum font size applies. Times New Roman, Arial, and/or Calibri fonts are required. Tables and illustrations may use a reduced font size not less than 8-point and may be landscape.

B. File Packaging: Proposals shall be submitted in three volumes, as outlined above. Contractors shall clearly identify each volume by volume number and volume name, RFP title and date of submission.

C. Page Count: The page count is as follows:

Proposal Part Page Count Volume I – Technical (including sub-factors) Excluding covers, title pages, executive summaries, and table of contents, the text of the technical narrative shall Not to Exceed (NTE) 50 pages.

Charts and resumes are not counted against the 50 page limit.

Volume II - Past Performance No Page Limitation

Volume III – Price No Page Limitation

D. Content Requirements: All information shall be confined to the appropriate volume. Failure to submit information in the appropriate volume will result in a finding that the proposal is not acceptable. The offeror shall confine submissions to essential matters, sufficient to define the proposal details, in a concise manner, to permit a complete and accurate evaluation of each proposal.

Each volume of the proposal shall consist of a Table of Contents, Summary Section and the Narrative discussion. The Summary Section shall contain a brief abstract of the volume. Proprietary information shall be clearly marked. The following shall be included mailto:Johnson.DaVeana@dol.gov mailto:Johnson.DaVeana@dol.gov in the Narrative discussion:

Cover Page The name of the proposing organization, author(s) of the technical proposal, the RFP number, DUNs, TIN, address of the company, and the title of the RFP should appear on the cover. One (1) manually signed original copy of the proposal is required.

Table of Contents Provide sufficient detail so that all important elements of the scope of work can be located readily.

Introduction/Executive Summary The introduction should be a one or two page summary outlining the proposed work, the Offeror’s interest in submitting a proposal, and the importance of this effort in relation to Offeror’s overall operation. In addition the Offeror shall provide a brief introduction of the company and organization’s history.

DELIVERY INSTRUCTIONS:

All Volumes must be kept separate from each other. Technical Proposals must not make reference to pricing data in order that the technical evaluation may be made strictly on the basis of technical merit.

VOLUME I: TECHNICAL PROPOSAL

The technical volume should provide a detailed description of the technical approach. Bidders are to present their technical proposal for conducting the evaluation and all tasks as specified under Section 5.0 and outlined within this SOW, demonstrating a thorough understanding of the department’s technical needs and a strong a creative methodological approach. The written narrative should demonstrate the contractor’s ability to present complex technical material in an accessible yet accurate manner.

There are six subfactors within Factor I: 1) Technical Merit of the Proposed Solution; 2) Management Approach, 3) Quality of hosted data (EMS) offering; 4) Availability of nationwide services; 5) Robustness of conflict of interest check system; and 6) Response to Sample Service Requests.

VOLUME II: PAST PERFORMANCE

The Government will evaluate past performance of at least three relevant contracts based on how well the contractor performed on projects. Offerors are advised that the Government may use past performance information obtained from centralized past performance databases and sources other than those identified by Offeror and the information obtained may be used for both the responsibility determination and the best value decision. The absence of past performance data will be rated neither favorably nor unfavorably.

Contracts listed may include those entered into with Government agencies or private sectors. For contractors with no relevant corporate past performance, the Government may take into account information regarding the past performance of predecessor companies, key personnel with relevant past performance, or subcontractors that will perform key aspects of the requirement. The Government will evaluate the Past Performance Elements specified in the Past Performance Questionnaire, Attachment I.

Offeror shall distribute the questionnaire included in the solicitation as an attachment to their references so the form can be completed and submitted directly to the Government.

VOLUME III: PRICE

The offeror shall complete the Schedule of Supplies/Services page(s) of the Standard Form (SF) 1449, Continuation Sheet of the solicitation with pricing for the base and the option periods. The offeror’s price proposal should include a breakout of the proposed labor categories and the rates for each category.

The offeror shall complete Section B - Supplies or Services/Prices of the Standard Form (SF) 1449, Continuation Sheet of the solicitation with pricing for each item.

Attachment Number Title Pages

I Response to Request for Clarification 3

Attachment I_Q and A_EMI III_SOL Responses

Question Title Section Number Question Detail Government Comment

Past Performance - Contract Specialist

Attachment I Past Performance Questionnaire

Please confirm Offerors should instruct their references to submit completed Past Performance Questionnaires directly to DaVeana Johnson via email at:

Johnson.DaVeana@dol.gov.

Yes. Offerors should instruct their references to submit completed Past Performance Questionnaires directly to DaVeana Johnson via email at:

Johnson.DaVeana@dol.gov.

Past Performance - Due Date

Attachment I Past Performance Questionnaire

Please confirm Offerors should instruct their references to submit completed Past Performance Questionnaires no later than Friday, April 30, 2021, 1400 EST.

Yes. Offerors should instruct their references to submit completed Past Performance Questionnaires no later than Friday, April 30, 2021, 1400

EST.

Past Performance - Submission

Attachment I Past Performance Questionnaire

Please advise if there are any further instructions Offerors should provide to their references with regard to submission of completed Past Performance Questionnaires (e.g., specific subject line, solicitation number in email body, etc.)

Please see the new guidance in Section L - Instructions, Conditions, and Notice to Bidders under Volume II: Past Performance.

Technical Volume - Page Count

L - Instructions, Conditions, and Notices to Bidders

> C. Page Count > D. Content Requirements

Sub-section C. Page Count states "Excluding covers, title pages, executive summaries, and table of contents, the text of the technical narrative shall Not to Exceed (NTE) 50 pages. " However, in sub-section D. Content Requirements under "Introduction/Executive Summary" it states "This shall be included in the page count for Technical Narrative and Staffing Plan. ". Please confirm executive summaries will be excluded from the Technical Volume page count requiremen.

Executive summaries will be excluded from the Technical Volume page count. Please see the revised Sub-section D.

Pricing Table - Case Submissions

B - Supplies or Services/Prices > Pricing Table

Under CLIN 15 (Trials, Hearing, And Other Proceedings), can the Government further describe the tasks and/or responsibilities associated with the line item "Case Submissions"? The Government anticipates that this CLIN would be used infrequently. To the extent that service under this CLIN is provided, tasks would include custom document / exhibit assembly not already covered by a unti-based CLIN (e.g., not covered by a photocopying, imaging, rendering CLIN).

Pricing Table - Adverse Parties

B - Supplies or Services/Prices > Pricing Table

Under CLIN 15 (Trials, Hearing, And Other Proceedings), can the Government further describe the tasks and/or responsibilities associated with the line item "Discovery by Adverse Parties"?

The Government anticipates that this CLIN would be used infrequently. To the extent that it is used, DOL anticipates that tasks falling into this category would include multiple disparate tasks, including but not limited to responding as a fact witness as to tasks performed at the request of the Government in connection with specific litigation support service requests, where such responses may be in writing, via interview, or via sworn testimony.

Pricing Table - Discovery by Govt

B - Supplies or Services/Prices > Pricing Table

Under CLIN 15 (Trials, Hearing, And Other Proceedings), can the Government further describe the tasks and/or responsibilities associated with the line item "Discovery by Government"?

The Government anticipates that this CLIN would be used infrequently. To the extent that it is used, DOL anticipates that tasks falling into this category would include multiple disparate tasks, including but not limited to

(1) analyzing, at the Government's request, incoming discovery materials for flaws, omissions, and corruption, and responding as to the level of effort (and estimated cost) required to remediate same; and (2) responding as a fact witness as to tasks performed at the request of the Government in connection with specific litigation support service requests, where such responses may be in writing, via interview, or via sworn testimony.

DOL E-Discovery, Litigation Support and Hosted Evidence Management Solution "EMI III" Question and Answer Spreadsheet (Solicitation# 1605C1-21-R-00004)

Pricing Table - Subpoenas

B - Supplies or Services/Prices > Pricing Table

Under CLIN 15 (Trials, Hearing, And Other Proceedings), can the Government further describe the tasks and/or responsibilities associated with the line item "Subpoenas"?

The Government anticipates that this CLIN would be used infrequently. To the extent that it is used, DOL anticipates that tasks falling into this category would include multiple disparate tasks, including but not limited to

(1) effecting service of Government subpoenas; (2) responding as a fact witness as to tasks performed at the request of the Government in connection with specific litigation support service requests, where such responses may be in writing, via interview, or via sworn testimony.

Pricing Table - Digesting

B - Supplies or Services/Prices > Pricing Table

Under CLIN 15 (Trials, Hearing, And Other Proceedings), can the Government further describe the tasks and/or responsibilities associated with the line item "Digesting"?

The Government anticipates that this CLIN would be used very infrequently. To the extent that this CLIN is used, DOL expects such services to relate to reviewing interviews and sworn testimony (e.g., depositions and hearing testimony) and preparing summaries of same, where DOL would highlight key topics/issues in advance of the digesting.

Pricing Table - Interviews

B - Supplies or Services/Prices > Pricing Table

Under CLIN 15 (Trials, Hearing, And Other Proceedings), can the Government further describe the tasks and/or responsibilities associated with the line item "Interviews of potential witnesses"?

The Government anticipates that this CLIN would be used infrequently. To the extent it is used, DOL expects services to be used in connection with legal team conversations and interviews of technical experts or fact witnesses describing technical steps that they took in particular tasks including but not limited to preserving, collecting, searching, and filtering fact evidence, whether electronic or hardcopy in nature.

Pricing Table - Certified Translation

B - Supplies or Services/Prices > Pricing Table

May Offerors add an additional line item titled "Certified Translator Services" under CLIN 15 (Trials, Hearing, And Other Proceedings) ?

It would be the preference of the DOL for Offerors to offer a price for translation and then an additional supplemental CLIN for certification of said translation.

Conflicts of Interest 1.14 Prior Determination of Conflicts of Interest

If commercial work/matters performed by the Offeror is entirely segregated in all aspects from government work/matters, please confirm a conflict of interest (COI) check within the Offeror's current and past government clients and matters will be sufficient.

No. It is important to the Government to understand what relationship an Offeror has with an opposing party and reach its own conclusions about the potential for a true conflict of interest situation. That said, in past similar contracts, DOL has found many situations where a Contractor with past or ongoing business relationships contained in a separate commercial subsidiary of Contractor does not give rise to a conflict of interest when the Government uses the Contractor to provide litigation support services from a subsidiary entirely segregated from the commercial subsidiary. However, DOL has also encountered situations where the nature of the commercial relationship is such that such dual representation, even with ethical walls, is improper.

Wage Determinations Attachment IV - Wage Determinations Should Offerors provide separate pricing of labor categories (such as those listed in Table 2 - Support Services Not Otherwise Included, Contractor Site) for each RSOL?

Except as noted in the SOW for remote on-site work at pop-up locations, it is expected that Offerors will offer unitary pricing across all contract locations, as opposed to differential pricing for individual SOL locations.

Number of Historical Cases requiring Trial

Services

1.2.1 & 1.2.2

From Section 1.2.2 it is estimated that DOL has approximately 350 legal matters per year that require litigation support. Will the DOL provide an estimation of the number or percentage of these matters that required trial support over that same historic three-year time period?

Trial support service requests have varied greatly from year to year, as does the nature of the requests themselves. It would be difficult if not impossible to predict case levels for the coming 12-18 months, given the current trial backlog and uneven re-opening of federal courts due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In general, most SOL case teams perform their own "hot seat" work inside the courtroom; "trial support" obtained from the vendor in this context is likely to involve helping prepare hardcopy exhibit binders, potentially help create deposition clips and otherwise populate Sanction exhibit databases, etc.

FOIA

Requests/Congression al Oversight Requests

1.2.2

How are searches conducted for FOIA requests, internal investigations or OIG investigations?

Is the EMS III Contractor responsible for conducting these searches or collections? If so, are there any internal enterprise email/file share applications that the contractor will be required to operate? (For example: Microsoft 365 Security and Compliance (eDiscovery/Advanced eDiscovery)

DOL conducts its own searches of its various ESI repositories; Contractor will not be involved with those tasks, other than possibly for isolated forensic work (e.g., mobile device imaging and searching). In general, DOL search results will likely be made available to Contractor via KiteWorks, Contractor's own secure file transfer system, or via transfer of physical media.

FOIA

Requests/Congression al Oversight Requests

(Part II)

1.2.2 Are there any additional applications specific for FOIA requests that will be required to be supported? (For example: applications that automate elements of communication and deliverable responses)

This contract is not expected to involve the use of any FOIA-specific technology, just the standard litigation support tools described in the SOW.

It is possible that a legal team may use Relativity to help process a large or complex FOIA request; in such a circumstance, Contractor would provide Relativity services (e.g., ingestion, tag palette set-up, production) as they would with any other hosted matter.

Pop-up Litigation support 1.2.2 Will the contractor be required to provide trial support services such as equipment rental, management or support?

It is hoped the contractor would be able to leverage its strategic partner network to help identify sources of equipment rental for remote trial rooms, etc. In the past, SOL has had situations where such expenses were passed through as subcontractor charges and other situations where SOL contracted directly with the equipment rental providers.

Pop-up Litigation support (Part II) 1.2.2 Will the contractor be required to support agency owned equipment (computers, networks, printers, scanners, etc.?)

No. Contractor may need to interface with the DOL Office of the CIO on I.T. security issues (e.g., any adjustments to DOL security permissions needed for DOL equipment to access Contractor's Relativity) or in connection with security audits needed as part of obtaining and maintaining an agency Authority to Operate for Contractor's Relativity.

Determination of cases going to In- House EMS vs.

Hosted SaaS EMS

1.2.3 What will be the primary determination for in-house EMS usage versus contractor-hosted EMS as the internal solution over the expected PoP?

At this time, the primary factors driving in-house vs. contractor-hosted EMS usage are the limited maturity level of DOL's in-house Relativity, internal staffing to adequately support additional matters and funding for additional user licenses for the in-house instance. Over the long term, DOL expects primary factors to be cost, speed to host, sensitivity of materials, and need for access by non-DOL users, such as DOJ.

Project volume of Cases going to In-

Hosue EMS over PoP 1.2.3

We have found through experience an internal solution is ultimately a cost-effective alternative to managing most, if not all cases. Does DOL have any projections of the total volume of cases that will be placed in the in-house DOL Relativity instance versus the Contractor-hosted EMS over the PoP? (For Example: Year 1: 10% Internal, 90% Contractor hosted, Year 2: 20% Internal, 80% Contractor hosted)

DOL sees a long-term need for continued and signficant contractor-hosted EMS services. DOL's current in-house deployment of Relativity is not sufficiently mature that the Government can predict when it will be sufficiently scaled to accept a large volume of SOL matters. On a number of cases basis (as opposed to data volume), DOL's internal Relativity is hosting less than 5% of SOL's current Relativity-hosted cases. We do not see this ratio changing much in at least the early years of the EMI-III contract, though our goal is to scale up in-house Relativity over time, concurrent with continuing significant levels of contractor-hosted EMS.

Migration from incumbent EMI II

EMS to awarded EMI

III EMS

1.2.4 What is the most current known version of the incumbent EMI II EMS Relativity System? As of Thursday, April 8, the incumbent EMI II Relativity system is running version 10.3.287.3.

Migration from incumbent EMI II

EMS to awarded EMI III EMS (Part II)

1.2.4 Is the current EMI II EMS Relativity system considered on-premise or RelativityONE (hosted by the application developer)?

The current EMI-II Relativity instance is not RelativityOne; it is located in the current EMI-II Contractor's Private Cloud (data center) and supports multiple clients, not just DOL.