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AG-3187-S-12-0085
Q&A
AG-3187-S-12-0085
Questions and Answers
Q1:
Will e-Discovery services be included in the solicitation requirement?
A1:
Yes
Q2:
How are Expert Witnesses paid should they be required on a matter; are they paid and
authorized separately by the government outside of this contract vehicle or must their
unknown costs be added into "other direct costs" as applied to each labor rate?
A2:
They are paid and authorized separately by the Agency outside of this contract.
Q3:
To protect the confidentiality of other clients of the firm who are not the U.S.
Government, is there not a more restrictive way to rewrite PWS § 11.1 as to prevent the
government from having access to other client's confidential materials which would
surely be present in such a generic and all-encompassing scope as, "the Contractor will
afford the Government access to the Contractor's ... operations, documentation, records,
and databases" as required in the second to the last paragraph of page 9 of the PWS?
A3:
There is an expectation that the contracting firm will protect the confidentiality of its relationship with and work performed for other clients. The manner in which this is done is the prerogative of the contracting firm. Access to any contractor information does not extend beyond that which is for the performance of any resultant contract to this solicitation.
Q4:
Can you please provide further clarification regarding the volume of work to be
performed by the winning contractor? The PWS states “On average, the FS has between
130-175 cases open at any time with cases averaging 12-18 months “. What portion of
these cases will be performed by the winning bidder of this contract?
A4:
While past experience is not necessarily a predictor of future needs, the Agency and its contractors handle approximately 300 cases per year. In this solicitation, the Agency reserves the right to award up to three separate contracts. Thus, the workload may be spread among one, two, or three contracts as determined to be most advantageous to the Government during proposal evaluations.
Q5:
Where will most of these cases be adjudicated? Must attorneys be licensed in multiple
states and federal jurisdictions?
A5:
Cases can be adjudicated in any state in which the Forest Service and its Job Corps affiliates have facilities. This is in approximately 44 states. The bulk of the cases arise in states west of the Mississippi River. This is a federal administrative practice. Attorneys must be licensed and in good standing in only one state or territory of the United States.
Q6:
What is the anticipated performance start date?
A6:
The projected contract start date is 01 December 2012.
Q7:
I respectfully request an extension of the deadline to address responses to all questions.
A7:
The proposal due date will not be extended at this time.
Q8:
Please clarify the intent of PWS No. 2.5 i.e., when is receipt determined and to whom
must reply be made.
A8:
In most circumstances these items are addressed in the Acknowledgement and Order issued by the assigned Administrative Judge at the beginning of the case. While the administrative process is not controlled by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, general principles are applicable.
Q9:
Please advise whether e-filing will be utilized in all cases and, if not, whether a cost-
adjustment will be made to accommodate filing of hard copy.
A9:
E-filing is utilized in all litigation before the Merit Systems Protection Board. E-filing is utilized in some, but not all regions of the EEOC. Eventually e-filing will be the norm in all EEOC administrative litigation. No cost adjustments will be made to accommodate filing of hard copy.
Q10:
With regard to Vol. 1, Factor 1, Subfactor 1(c) of the Technical Proposal, are there
specific required areas that must be addressed in the QCP? If so, can you please provide
or direct us to
a list of categories/issues that you would like us to address in the QCP.
Alternatively, may we please see an example or template of a QCP that was previously
approved?
A10:
Offerors Quality Control Plan (QCP) should identify the position in its proposed organizational approach that will be responsible for ensuring the timeliness and quality of meeting the requirements identified in the Performance Work Statement and detail the process and intervals by which the quality control measures will be applied.
Q11:
With regard to the Sample Legal Case, can you please verify that the following two dates
at the beginning of the case are correct: Is the filing date of the complainant’s formal
complaint October 15, 2011, and the date of the notification to the complainant about the
investigation report and procedural options August 19, 2011? It seems that the
notification date should be after the date the formal complaint was filed with the agency.
A11:
The dates are correct
Q12.
With respect to the “Offeror Representations and Certifications” (RFP: pp. 21-39), should
this be addressed in the cover letter?
A12:
The reps and certs are required and may be included as a tab at the end of Volume 2: Price Proposal.
Q13:
The RFP states that, under this contract, we may be asked to do employment work for
agencies other than USDA Forest Service. See pg. 1, PWS. Will we need to do new fee
proposals for work from other agencies? Will the fee structure be the same? If not, how
will we know the new fee structure?
A13:
The fee structure will remain the same for all orders placed against any resultant contract regardless what agency it is supporting.
Q14:
Is the Government looking for attorney hourly rates determined “reasonable” by some
sort of
survey? If so, to what survey should we refer?
A14:
The solicitation states that the fully burdened labor rates “Hourly rates” will be evaluated for price reasonableness. A variety of price analysis techniques may be used in determining price reasonableness. A sample of these techniques could include Adequate Price Competition, prices paid on previous contracts for similar services, published price lists, etc. The Government recognizes that this requirement may include some costs in the fully burdened rate that are not included in some other published rates.
Q15:
What are “Extended Rates”? Are they the weighted rates that take into consideration
nonrefundable costs or overhead?
A15:
In Schedule B, the Extended Price will be populated by the Government which will be a function of the Proposed Hourly Rate “X” times the Estimated # of Hours. The Government will populate the “Estimated # (number) of hours” during the price analysis. The estimated number of hours entered will be identical for each offeror.
Q16:
Upon what should we base our Est # Hours on Attachment B, See page 3 – 4 of the RFP?
Should we price all phases of an individual and class action case, according to pages 2
though 11 of the PWS? Or, is the Attachment B to be completed in response to the
Sample Case only? See pages 47 – 48, RFP.
A16:
Offerors shall enter fully burdened hourly rates into schedule B of the RFP. The Government will enter the estimated number of hours in Schedule B after proposals are received. For the Sample Legal Case, offerors shall include its estimated number of hours for each labor category in its Technical Proposal. However, the response to the Pricing Proposal shall include the estimated number of hours and the fully burdened labor rates from Schedule B, and extended with a grand total price for the Sample Legal Case. The distinction is that the Technical Proposal shall not include any information on the labor rates anywhere in its contents. The two volumes shall be bound and submitted as separate, stand alone, documents.
Q17:
Although the PWS provides the average number of cases in open status at one time with
FS, are there an average/ceiling/minimum number of cases that will be assigned to the
contractor at one time? (This could affect staffing)
A17:
No
Q18:
Who are considered “key personnel” on the contract?
A18:
Firm manager/contracting manager/case manager, all attorneys, all paralegals
Q19:
Do you want the hard copies of the responses velo-bound with tabs?
A19:
Preferably, the proposals will be submitted in a manner that permits the pages to lay flat on their own as the pages are flipped, such a three ring binders or spiral binding.
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