2627801_-_Bidder_Instruction_for_Legal_Consulting_Services_-_Final.pdf

THE OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY – PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR

INVITATION FOR BID (IFB) NO. 026-2627801-RC

FOR

LEGAL CONSULTING SERVICES

GENERAL INFORMATION, INSTRUCTIONS AND REQUIREMENTS

Office of the District Attorney – Public Administrator Page 1 of 8 IFB 026-2627801-RC

Legal Consulting Services File No. 2627801

The County of Orange, Office of the District Attorney – Public Administrator, (hereinafter referred to as “County”) is requesting competitive bids from qualified firms (hereinafter referred to as “Bidder”) for Legal Consulting

Services. The awarded Contract, (hereinafter referred to as “Contract”) will be between the County and awarded

Bidder (hereinafter referred to as “Contractor”) in accordance with the Model Contract terms, conditions, Scope of

Work and Pricing/Compensation. This is a fully electronic solicitation – only electronic bids submitted through

OpenGov will be allowed; no other form of bid submittals will be accepted. Prior to submitting a bid, Bidders are advised to carefully read the instructions below, including the model contract and any solicitation attachments and/or exhibits.

I. GENERAL INFORMATION

A. IMPORTANT NOTICE: The County has attempted to provide all information available. It is the responsibility of each Bidder to review, evaluate, and, where necessary, request any clarification prior to submission of a bid. If any person contemplating submitting a bid in response to this IFB is in doubt as to the true meaning of any part of the solicitation documents attached hereto or finds discrepancies in or omissions from the specifications, they must submit a written request for clarification/interpretation to the

County Deputy Purchasing Agency (“DPA”) via the County’s online bid system at:

https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/ocgov under the bid page for this solicitation.

B. COMMUNICATION: Bidders are not to contact County personnel with any questions or clarifications concerning this Invitation for Bid (IFB) except to the DPA through the County’s online bid system at:

https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/ocgov. County will provide all official communication concerning this IFB through the County’s online bid system at: https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/ocgov. Any

County response to Bidders relevant to this IFB other than through the County’s online bid system is unauthorized and will be considered invalid.

All questions regarding this IFB must be submitted via https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/ocgov

C. CLARIFICATION/INTERPRETATION: If clarification or interpretation of this solicitation is considered necessary by County, a written addendum shall be issued and the information will be posted on County’s online bid system at: https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/ocgov. Any interpretation of, or correction to, this solicitation will be made only by addendum issued by the County DPA. All addenda will be submitted and posted on OpenGov. It is the responsibility of each Bidder to periodically check the County’s on-line bid system to ensure that they have received and reviewed any and all addenda to this solicitation.

The County will not be responsible for any other explanations, corrections to, or interpretations of the documents, including any oral information.

All questions or requests for interpretation must be received by the time and date specified in the

IFB notice.

D. BID VALIDITY: Bids will be valid for a period of 180 days after IFB closing date.

E. BUSINESS HOURS: County regular business hours of operations is Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m.

to 5:00 p.m. (PT). The County will be closed on the following County Holidays this year:

July 4, 2024

September 2, 2024

September 27, 2024

October 14, 2024

November 11, 2024 https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/ocgov https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/ocgov https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/ocgov https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/ocgov https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/ocgov

FOR

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November 28, 2024

November 29, 2024

December 25, 2024

F. IMPORTANT DATES: These dates only apply to IFB #026-2627801-RC

1. Questions and Answers Session Ends: Tuesday, June 18, 2024 at 4:00 pm (PST)

2. Bid Due Date: Tuesday, June 25, 2024 at 4:00 pm (PST)

G. LOBBYISTS: County of Orange does not require and neither encourages or discourages the use of lobbyists or other consultants for the purpose of securing business.

II. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

A. REVIEW: Before submitting a bid, Bidders shall carefully review the Bid Instructions and examine the solicitation contents, including the Model Contract Terms, Conditions and all Attachments and/or Exhibits.

Bidders shall include in their bid response a monetary sum to cover the cost of all items included in the

Contract. The Model Contract contained in this solicitation is the Contract proposed for execution. Upon award, awarded Bidder will be required to sign and submit Contract for execution.

B. CONTENT: This document consists of the following:

1. Section I - General Information

2. Section II - General Instructions

3. Section III - W-9 Requirements

4. Section IV – County of Orange Local Small Business (OCLSB) and Disabled Veteran Business

Enterprise (DVBE) Preference

5. Section V – County of Orange Campaign Contribution Disclosure (Levine Act) Policy

C. RESPONSIVENESS: Responsive bids shall include the following completed submittals/attachments:

1. Minimum Qualifications

2. Signature Page

3. Bidder Certification

4. Company Profile

5. References – Bidders must provide a minimum of three (3) references, (at least 2 of which being from law enforcement agencies) to be provided from individuals outside of the Office of the District Attorney

– Public Administrator. References must cover services performed by your company in the past five

(5) years.

6. Online Pricing Submission – Bidders must complete every line item on Attachment B, Pricing/Compensation through the County’s online bidding system.

7. Exhibit I – OCLSB/DVBE – (If applicable) Submit County of Orange Local Small Businesses

(OCLSB) and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) Preference Certification Requirement.

8. Exhibit II – County of Orange Campaign Contribution Disclosure Form (Levine Act)

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D. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

1. Bidder must be actively licensed to practice law in the State of California.

2. Bidder must have at least five years of experience providing expert consultation, advice, and trial practice in California State Bar disciplinary investigations and proceedings with the California State

Bar and before the California State Bar Court involving alleged violations of the California Business

& Professions Code, California Rules of Professional Conduct and/or State Bar Act of California.

3. Bidder must agree to avoid conflicts of interest with other clients whose goals/agenda may conflict with the goals/agenda of the Orange County District Attorney. For more information on the Orange County

District Attorney, please see: https://orangecountyda.org/about-ocda/

E. BID SUBMISSION: It is recommended that bidders visit the County’s secure online bidding system on a regular basis for any updates to the bid.

Electronic Bids shall be submitted via the County’s secure online bidding system. All required sections of the Bid as listed above (Section II, C and D), must be submitted via the website. Bidder is solely responsible for “on time” submission of their electronic bid. The Bid Management System will not accept late bids and no exceptions shall be made. County will only receive those bids that were transmitted successfully.

Note: Electronic Bids cannot be viewed by County until after the Bid deadline. If you encounter any problems with your registration, system, bid submission, or other system issues please go to: procurement-support@opengov.com

F. AWARD: Upon recommendation of Contract award, Contractor will be required to submit the following documents within seven (7) days of County notification, unless otherwise specified in the solicitation:

1. Insurance: Certificate(s) of Insurance, including additional Insured Endorsement(s); refer to

Model Contract, Article O-Insurance

2. W-9 Form: Current signed W-9 (Taxpayer ID No & Certification), which includes Contractor’s

Legal Business Name(s). Out of State Vendors may be required to submit a 587/590

Form.

G. PRICING:

1. BID PRICES: The bid prices quoted on this solicitation shall be firm for the entire contract term of the awarded Contract.

2. OPENGOV: Bidder shall utilize the County’s secure online bidding system to provide all-inclusive, firm fixed pricing, in accordance with the requirements of the Model Contract for entire term of the

Contract. The bid price(s) shall be all inclusive of all fees needed to provide the requested services as listed in Attachment B – Pricing/Compensation of the Model Contract for the entire Contract term. No additional compensation will be allowed.

3. ADDENDA: Bid prices offered shall reflect all addenda issued by County.

4. SCOPE OF WORK, PRICING/COMPENSATION: Bids shall be submitted only for the items and/or services as stated in the Scope of Work, Attachment A and Pricing/Compensation, Attachment B of

Model Contract; bids for other than the items and/or services listed will not be considered.

5. FIRM PRICES: The County will only consider firm price bids.

6. PROFIT: The net amount of profit will remain firm for the entire term of the Contract. Contract adjustments which increases Contractor’s profit will not be allowed.

mailto:procurement-support@opengov.com mailto:procurement-support@opengov.com

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7. ACCEPTANCE: Bids must be provided for each item separately, “all-or-none” bids will not be accepted unless in the best interest of the County.

H. NO SUBSTITUTIONS: The bidder is required to meet all specifications and requirements contained in this solicitation. No substitutions will be accepted, unless prior County written approval is received.

I. COMPANY PROFILE, MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS, REFERENCES AND SIGNATURE PAGE: Bidder shall utilize the forms provided to satisfy this requirement.

J. DISCREPANCIES: Bidder shall take all responsibility for any errors or omissions in their bids. Any discrepancies in numbers or calculations shall be interpreted to reflect the lowest price to the County.

If prior to Contract award, a Bidder discovers a mistake in their bid which renders the Bidder unwilling to perform under any resulting contract, the Bidder must immediately notify the buyer and request to withdraw the bid. It shall be solely within the County's discretion as to whether withdrawal will be permitted. If the solicitation contemplated evaluation and award of "all or none" of the items, then any withdrawal must be for the entire bid. If the solicitation provided for evaluation and award on a line item or combination of items basis, the County may consider permitting withdrawal of specific line item(s) or combination of items.

K. BID EXPENSES: The County shall not be liable for any expenses incurred by potential Contractors in the preparation or submission of their bids. Pre-contractual expenses are not to be included in the Contractor’s

Pricing Sheet. Pre-contractual expenses are defined as, including but not limited to, expenses incurred by

Bidder in:

1. Preparing its bid in response to this IFB.

2. Submitting that bid to the County.

3. Negotiating with the County any matter related to the bid; and,

4. Any other expenses incurred by the Bidder prior to the date of the award and execution, if any, of the

Contract.

L. PROTESTS: In the event a Bidder believes that County’s solicitation is unfairly restrictive or ambiguous or contains conflicting provisions or the Bidder believes that any resulting Contract would be commercially impractical to perform, the Bidder must file a written protest with the County DPA.

1. PROCEDURE

All protests shall be typed under the protester’s letterhead and submitted in accordance with the provisions stated herein. All protests shall include at a minimum the following information:

a. The name, address and telephone number of the protester.

b. The signature of the protester or the protester’s representative.

c. The solicitation or contract number.

d. A detailed statement of the legal and/or factual grounds for the protest; and

e. The form of relief requested.

2. PROTEST OF BID/PROPOSAL SPECIFICATIONS:

All protests related to bid or proposal specifications must be submitted to the County DPA no later than five (5) business days prior to the close of the bid or proposal. Protests received after the five (5) business day deadline will not be considered by the County.

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In the event the protest of specifications is denied, and the protester wishes to continue in the solicitation process, they must still submit a bid prior to the close of the solicitation in accordance with the bid/proposal submittal procedures provided in the bid/proposal.

3. PROTEST OF AWARD OF CONTRACT:

In protests related to the award of a contract, the protest must be submitted no later than five (5) business days after the notice of the proposed contract award is provided by the County DPA. Protests relating to a proposed contract award which are received after the five (5) business day deadline will not be considered by the County.

a. Protest Process

i. In the event of a timely protest, the County shall not proceed with the solicitation or award of the contract until the County DPA, the County Purchasing Agent or the Procurement Appeals

Board renders a decision on the protest.

ii. Upon receipt of a timely protest, the County DPA will within ten (10) business days of the receipt of the protest, issue a decision in writing which shall state the reasons for the actions taken.

iii. The County may, after providing written justification to be included in the procurement file, make the determination that an immediate award of the contract is necessary to protect the substantial interests of the County. The award of a contract shall in no way compromise the protester’s right to the protest procedures outlined herein.

iv. If the protester disagrees with the decision of the County DPA, the protestor may submit a written notice to the Office of the County Purchasing Agent requesting an appeal to the

Procurement Appeals Board, in accordance with the process stated below.

b. Appeal Process

i. If the protester wishes to appeal the decision of the County DPA, the protester must submit, within three (3) business days from receipt of the County DPA’s decision, a written appeal to:

Office of the District Attorney – Public Administrator

Attn: Roger Chang

300 N. Flower Street, 8th Floor

Santa Ana, CA 92703

ii. Within fifteen (15) business days, the County Purchasing Agent will review all materials in connection with the grievance, assess the merits of the protest and provide a written determination that shall contain his or her decision on whether the protest shall be forwarded to the Procurement Appeals Board.

iii. The decision of the County Purchasing Agent on whether to allow the appeal to go forward will be final and there shall be no right to any administrative appeals of this decision.

M. ACCEPTANCE/REJECTION/AWARD

1. Bids submitted in response to this IFB may become subject to public disclosure under the California

Public Records Act, and other applicable law. The County shall not be liable in any way for disclosure of any such records. Additionally, all bids shall become the property of the County.

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2. The lowest responsive, responsible Bidder will be recommended for Contract award. Award determination shall be based on Attachment B, Section II, upon overall the lowest responsive and responsible bidder.

3. Bids will be reviewed by the County for responsiveness to all requirements. The County has the right to reject any bid deemed unresponsive or lacking the resources or experience to adequately perform the services described herein.

4. Only those responsible, responsive bids meeting all solicitation requirements and specifications shall be further reviewed for consideration for award. Award shall be based on the lowest, responsive, responsible bid.

5. Please take notice, non-acceptance of the County of Orange terms and conditions, incorporated in Model Contract, may deem a bid non-responsive. County will not accept any other terms, conditions, or provisions contrary to those contained within this solicitation.

6. Final award determination shall be based upon the lowest responsive, responsible bid, and may also include a review of successful Bidder’s qualifications, experience, and resources; Bidder’s ability to meet the requirements and perform the services specified in this solicitation; Bidder’s references and past performance; and Bidder’s acceptance of County of Orange terms and conditions. In addition, County reserves the right to verify and validate any information prior to Contract Award and during the entire term of the Contract.

7. By submitting a response to this solicitation, Bidders agree to accept the decision of the County DPA as final.

8. Awarded Bidder will be required to sign a contract upon award. If Bidder is a corporation, signature will be provided in accordance with the corporation’s code as specified in this solicitation.

N. RIGHTS RESERVED TO COUNTY: The County reserves the right to:

1. Waive, at its discretion, any irregularity or informality, which County deems correctable or otherwise not warranting rejection of the bid.

2. County reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to make multiple awards to Bidders for services requested in this solicitation.

3. Accept or reject in whole or in part any or all bids received as a result of this solicitation at its sole discretion and to solicit for new bids, as the best interest of the County may require.

4. Negotiate the final Contract with the lowest, responsive and responsible Bidder or Bidders as necessary to serve the best interests of the County.

5. Withdraw or cancel in part or in its entirety this solicitation at any time without prior notice and furthermore makes no representation that any Contract will be awarded to any Bidder responding to this solicitation.

6. Award its total requirements to one Bidder or to apportion those requirements among two or more

Bidders as the County may deem to be in its best interests; therefore, bids must be provided for each item separately; “all-or-none” bids will not be accepted unless in the best interest of the County.

O. JOINT BIDS: Where two or more Bidders desire to submit a single bid in response to a solicitation, they must do so on a prime/subcontractor basis rather than as a joint venture. The County intends to contract with a single firm or multiple firms, but not with multiple firms doing business as a joint venture.

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P. UNFAIR PRACTICES AND OTHER LAWS: Bidder warrants that its bid complies with the Unfair Practices

Act (Business and Professions Code Section 17000 et seq.) and all applicable County, State and Federal laws and regulations.

Q. INDEPENDENCE OF BID: By submitting a bid, Bidder swears under penalty of perjury that it did not conspire with any other supplier to set prices in violation of anti-trust laws.

R. BIDDER ADVISORY: The County does not require and neither encourages nor discourages the use of lobbyists or other consultants for the purpose of securing business.

S. AMERICANS WITH DISABILITY ACT (ADA): To comply with the non-discrimination requirements of the

ADA, it is the policy of the County to make every effort to ensure that its programs, activities and services are available to all persons, including persons with disabilities. For persons with a disability needing a reasonable modification to participate in the procurement process, or for persons having questions regarding reasonable modifications for the procurement process, you must contact the buyer listed in the solicitation.

T. DUNS NUMBER: The County requires a valid D-U-N-S number prior to Contract Award. If needed, your company may obtain one at no cost at www.dnb.com. If you are unable to provide/obtain a D-U-N-S number, please indicate so in your proposal/bid submission response.

III. W-9 REQUIREMENTS

A. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY, INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE FORM W-9 REQUIREMENT: Effective

June 3, 2006, all Contractors, entering into a Contract with the County, who are not already established in the Countywide Accounting and Personnel System (CAPS) as an Auditor-Controller Vendor, will be required to submit to the County a federal Form W-9, or form W-8 for foreign vendors. The County will inform the Contractor, at the time of award, if the Form W-9, or W-8, will be required.

1. In order to comply with this County requirement, within ten days of notification of selection of award of Contract but prior to official award of Contract, the selected Contractor agrees to furnish to the contract administrator, the County DPA, the required W-9 or W-8. Out of State Vendors may be required to submit a 587/590 Form.

IV. COUNTY OF ORANGE LOCAL SMALL BUSINESS (OCLSB) PREFERENCE AND DISABLED VETERAN

BUSINESS ENTERPRISE (DVBE) PREFERENCE

A. OCLSB: Effective January 1, 2020, County of Orange Board of Supervisors adopted the OCLSB

Preference policy. Implementation of the OCLSB Preference policy supports local businesses, the local economy and the development of the County’s tax base.

To be certified as a Local Small Business by the County of Orange, a business shall meet (1) and (2) below:

1. Local Business Requirements:

a. maintains their principal center of operations (i.e. headquarters) within Orange County, and:

b. has:

i. a business address located in the County of Orange that is not a post office box, or

ii. a valid business license or certificate of occupancy issued by the County of Orange or by an

Orange County city, or other documentation acceptable to the County of Orange.

http://www.dnb.com/

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2. Small Business Requirements:

a. Must be certified as a Small Business by the State of California Department of General Services (DGS):

and,

b. DGS Small Business requirements must be valid at the time of bid proposal submittal.

B. DVBE: Effective January 1, 2021, County of Orange Board of Supervisors adopted the DVBE Preference policy. The DVBE Preference policy supports local business opportunity, economy and the development of County’s tax base, and in addition recognizes the service and sacrifice given by the men and women of our Armed Forces.

To be certified as a Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise by the County of Orange, a business shall meet

1 and 2 below:

1. Must be certified as a DVBE by the State of California Department of General Services (DGS); and,

2. DGS DVBE requirements must be valid at the time of bid/proposal submittal.

To participate as an OCLSB and/or DVBE please read and follow the process outlined in EXHIBIT I -

COUNTY OF ORANGE LOCAL SMALL BUSINESS (OCLSB) AND DISABLED VETERAN

BUSINESS ENTERPRISE (DVBE) CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS.

V. COUNTY OF ORANGE CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION DISCLOSURE (LEVINE ACT) POLICY

A. County departments must comply with Government Code section 84308, a provision of the Political Reform

Act generally known as the “Levine Act.”

B. In order for County departments to verify compliance with the Levine Act all applications or solicitations for a County license, permit, or other entitlement for use subject to action by County officers shall require applicants and bidders to receive the “Campaign Contribution Disclosure Information” and complete a

“Campaign Contribution Disclosure Form,” both identified in Exhibit II.