CN-680000-AA451.pdf

April 25, 2023

Dear Agency Client:

The current Agreement for legal services between your agency and the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) ends June 30, 2023. Attached is a new Retainer Agreement and Attachment A for fiscal year 23/24 which will allow the OAG to continue to provide legal services to your agency in various matters through "Letters of Authorization" (LOAs). A copy of the current LOA form is also attached for your future use.

As we previously advised all client agencies in September, 2022, in order to recruit and retain high quality legal staff to serve our clients, the Office of the Attorney General submitted a Fiscal Year 2023-24 Legislative Budget Request to increase attorney salaries. As a result of these salary increases, it will be necessary to increase the hourly rates as follows effective July 1, 2023:

Legal Staff Rates Sr. Asst. Attorneys General, Attorney Supervisors, Special Counsels, and Chief Asst. Attorneys General (Bureau Chiefs): $140.00/hr.

Asst. Attorneys General: $135.00/hr.

Entry Level Attorneys: $117.00/hr.

Paralegals, Law Clerks, Legal Assistants, Sr. Legal Assistants, and Investigators: $64.00/hr.

E-Discovery Rates Administrators & Litigation Support, Operations Managers: $93.00/hr.

Operation Production Leads, Operations Technicians, and Litigation Support Consultants: $68.00/hr.

Operations Specialists: $48.00/hr.

These increased rates continue to be below market prices for similar related services. Please ensure that this Agreement is fully executed by June 30, 2023, and if you have any questions feel free to contact me.

Sincerely, John Bajger Associate Deputy for Civil Litigation

Attachments as stated.

ASHLEY MOODY

ATTORNEY GENERAL

STATE OF FLORIDA

John Bajger Associate Deputy for Civil Litigation PL-01 The Capitol Tallahassee, FL 32399-1050 Phone (850) 414-3625 Fax (850) 488-4872 John.Bajger@myfloridalegal.com http://www.myfloridalegal.com

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Civil Litigation Division

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AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE STATE OF FLORIDA

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

AND

AGENCY FOR HEALTH CARE ADMINISTRATION

THIS AGREEMENT is entered into in the City of Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida, between the State of Florida, Office of the Attorney General (OAG), with headquarters located in

PL01 The Capitol, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1050, and the Agency for Health Care

Administration (AGENCY), located at 2727 Mahan Drive, Building 3, Tallahassee, Florida

32308-5407, jointly referred to as “the parties.” The parties agree as follows:

1. ENGAGEMENT OF THE OAG: The AGENCY retains the OAG to perform the legal services described in paragraph 2 and E-Discovery Legal Services as described in Attachment A, attached to this AGREEMENT. Such services may not be subcontracted for or assigned without the prior written consent of the AGENCY.

2. SCOPE OF SERVICES: The OAG will, when requested by the AGENCY, provide legal services to the AGENCY. Each request by the AGENCY will be in the form of a Letter of

Authorization (LOA) and will state the scope of services requested. LOAs will be submitted by the AGENCY in writing to the OAG. Each LOA submitted under this AGREEMENT will be incorporated into and become a part of this AGREEMENT. All existing LOA’s between the parties for the previous year’s AGREEMENT, which are currently active will remain active under this AGREEMENT, and will be incorporated into and become a part of this

AGREEMENT.

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3. TIME OF PERFORMANCE: This AGREEMENT will become effective July 1, 2023 and end on June 30, 2024. The OAG and the AGENCY may renew this AGREEMENT, as mutually agreed to, on a yearly basis for a period that may not exceed three years or the term of the original AGREEMENT, whichever is longer.

4. PAYMENT:

a. The AGENCY will pay the OAG for legal fees billed in providing legal services to the

AGENCY according to the following schedule:

Senior Assistant Attorneys General, Attorney Supervisors, Special Counsels, and Chief Assistant Attorneys General (Bureau Chiefs): $140/hr.

Assistant Attorneys General: $135/hr.

Entry Level Attorneys: $117/hr.

Paralegals, Law Clerks, Legal Assistants, Senior Legal Assistants and Investigators: $64/hr.

All legal services associated with providing E-Discovery Legal Services will be billed according to the schedule set forth in Attachment A. Any future adjustments to these rates will be mutually agreed upon by both the OAG and the AGENCY via a written amendment to this

AGREEMENT, duly executed by the parties.

b. The AGENCY will reimburse the OAG for costs and expenses such as mediation, court reporters, translations, subpoenas, copies, freight, newspaper advertisements, filing fees, witness fees, expert witness fees, E-Discovery related services, computer-assisted research and other necessary expenses, including travel expenses, which are directly related to legal services rendered under the LOA. Travel expenses will be reimbursed in accordance with section

112.061, Florida Statutes or as required by any future amendments thereto.

c. The AGENCY will pay the OAG for fees and costs associated with the closure of a case up to 180 days after final action of the case.

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d. The AGENCY will also pay the OAG a five percent administrative indirect charge on all fees and costs.

5. INVOICING: Invoices for legal fees and litigation costs and expenses incurred by OAG staff will be submitted to the AGENCY on a monthly basis. Documentation for legal fees will be provided in detail sufficient for a proper pre-audit and post-audit and will specify the work performed during the hours invoiced. Documentation of litigation costs and expenses will be provided by a report generated utilizing FLAIR accounting transactions.

6. AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS: If the terms of this AGREEMENT, including payment, extend beyond the current fiscal year, the performance and obligation to pay under this

AGREEMENT is contingent upon an annual appropriation by the Legislature, in accordance with section 287.0582, Florida Statutes.

7. REPORTING AND DOCUMENTATION: The OAG will maintain a file, available for inspection by the AGENCY, containing documentation of all costs incurred in connection with this AGREEMENT. The file will be maintained for a period of three years after completion of services rendered.

8. PUBLIC RECORDS: Unless specifically exempted by law, all documents or other records made or received by the OAG in conjunction with this AGREEMENT are public records available for inspection by the public in accordance with section 119.07, Florida Statutes.

Refusal by the OAG to allow public access to such records will constitute grounds for unilateral cancellation of this AGREEMENT as provided in section 287.058 (1)(c), Florida Statutes.

Claims files maintained by the Division of Risk Management and assigned to the OAG will, pursuant to section 284.40, Florida Statutes, be considered privileged and confidential and will be only for the use of the Department of Financial Services and the OAG in fulfilling their

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AGENCY contract administrator immediately upon being requested to disclose any records in the OAG’s possession which relate to this AGREEMENT. The OAG will not allow any inspection of, or otherwise disclose any information found in, such records unless the AGENCY and the OAG agree which records, if any, will be made available for public inspection.

IF THE OAG HAS QUESTIONS REGARDING THE APPLICATION

OF CHAPTER 119, FLORIDA STATUTES, TO THE OAG’S DUTY TO

PROVIDE PUBLIC RECORDS RELATING TO THIS CONTRACT,

THEN THE OAG SHOULD CONTACT THE CUSTODIAN OF

PUBLIC RECORDS, Richard.Shoop@ahca.myflorida.com, (850) 412-

3671, 2727 MAHAN DRIVE, MS #3, TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA

32308.

9. COOPERATION WITH OAG’S INSPECTOR GENERAL: The parties understand their duty, pursuant to section 20.055(5), Florida Statutes, to cooperate with the inspector general in any investigation, audit, inspection, review, or hearing.

10. E-VERIFY EMPLOYMENT ELIGIBILTY VERIFICATION: Pursuant to section

448.095(2), Florida Statutes, OAG must register and use the U.S. Department of Homeland

Security’s E-Verify System to verify the employment eligibility of all new employees hired by the OAG during the Contract term. Additionally, if the OAG enters into a contract with a subcontractor, the subcontractor must register in the E-Verify system and provide the OAG with an affidavit stating that the subcontractor does not employ, contract with, or subcontract with an

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Contract.

The AGENCY may request documentation of compliance with this provision at any time during the Contract term.

The Contract may be subject to termination for failure to comply with the requirements set forth in this Article, as specified in section 448.095, Florida Statutes.

11. ENTIRE AGREEMENT: This AGREEMENT and any attachments hereto, represents the entire agreement of the parties and supersedes all previous communications on this subject, either oral or written, between the parties. Any changes or waivers of this AGREEMENT will only be valid through a written amendment signed by the parties.

12. TERMINATION: Either party may unilaterally terminate this AGREEMENT without penalty by giving 90 days written notice, specifying the effective date of such termination; or sooner upon written notice on a mutually agreed date. If this AGREEMENT is terminated for any reason, all finished or unfinished documents and other work products prepared by or for the

AGENCY under this AGREEMENT will be made available to and for the exclusive use of the

AGENCY. Upon termination, the OAG will invoice the AGENCY for all compensable work satisfactorily completed and for all costs and expenses associated with the legal services rendered under this AGREEMENT at the time of termination. Properly submitted invoices will be paid by the AGENCY within 45 days of receipt of the invoice. All written, digital or oral approvals referenced, and notices required in this AGREEMENT must be obtained from each party’s respective Administrator, or their designee. Written notices may be sent and received by mail or email to the designated Administrators.

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13. ADMINISTRATION OF AGREEMENT: The provisions of this AGREEMENT will be administered by the OAG and will be under the immediate supervision of John Bajger, Associate

Deputy For Civil Litigation (or OAG designee), John.Bajger@myfloridalegal.com. The

AGENCY's Administrator is Andrew T. Sheeran, General Counsel (or designee), 2727 Mahan

Drive, Bldg. 3, MS #3, Tallahassee, Florida 32308-5407, Andrew.Sheeran@ahca.myflorida.com.

Any changes to the AGREEMENT Administrators will be in writing or by email. Such changes do not require a formal written amendment to the AGREEMENT.

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Office of the Attorney General and the Agency for Health

Care Administration have executed this AGREEMENT.

John M. Guard Jason Weida Chief Deputy Attorney General Secretary Office of the Attorney General Agency for Health Care Administration

Date Date

Agency FLAIR Number: _____________________________ (to be completed by AGENCY)

Agency for Health Care Administration Source of Funding

AG Contract No. R9611

Retainers\FY23-24\R9611

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4/26/2023

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6/12/2023

Std. Retainer Agreement Attachment A Page 1 of 5 Office of the Attorney General Contract No. R9611 AHCA

AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE OAG AND AHCA

ATTACHMENT A

FOR

E-DISCOVERY LEGAL SERVICES PERFORMED BY OAG

1. SCOPE OF E-DISCOVERY LEGAL SERVICES: The OAG will, when a particular matter requires it, provide the following E-Discovery Legal Services to the

AGENCY as part of the OAG’s provision of legal services under the RETAINER

AGREEMENT executed between the OAG and the AGENCY, hereby amending and adding the following to paragraph 2, SCOPE OF SERVICES, of the AGREEMENT:

a. E-Discovery Consulting;

b. Early Case Assessment;

c. Process and/or convert electronically stored information (ESI) to a format compatible with the E-Discovery analysis software selected by the OAG for use in the particular matter;

d. Project Management to ensure that the E-Discovery production is completed in a timely fashion consistent with the overall case discovery plan in the matter;

e. Provide technical assistance with case loading, deduplication, tagging, privilege review, de-NISTing, email threading, near duplication analysis, concept searching, and other advanced analytics (i.e., predictive coding and other relationship analyses), including processing data for production;

f. Conduct pre-review analysis to cull data and provide reporting regarding the ESI to be reviewed;

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Std. Retainer Agreement Attachment A Page 2 of 5 Office of the Attorney General

g. Facilitate forensic data copies when needed in the matter; The OAG does not provide forensic data collection services but may provide forensic copies.

h. Work with the AGENCY employees to determine where data resides, the search capability of the AGENCY, consult on search terms, and provide information about how data should be exported by the AGENCY to the OAG in order to facilitate review and analysis;

i. Temporary data storage, including cold storage, as agreed to by the OAG and the AGENCY;

j. Data shipping or file transfer protocol services;

k. Export and return data to the AGENCY. Any data received by the OAG, not transmitted via internet, will be returned to the AGENCY within 30 days from when it is processed and verified;

l. Process the data (the original data and a load file, containing all tagging done on the data) for return 90 days after the end of the matter. The return of the data in a load file may increase the size of the data and will not include duplicates or NIST files; and

m. Expert witness activities, including testimony, but excluding forensics.

2. This AGREEMENT does not include forensic services. The OAG does not provide forensic services.

3. The data provided by the AGENCY under this ATTACHMENT and the

AGREEMENT, including any E-Discovery analysis, is owned by the AGENCY. The

AGENCY has the exclusive duty to safeguard any confidential and exempt information and assert any privileges or protections, and has the exclusive authority to release the data

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Std. Retainer Agreement Attachment A Page 3 of 5 Office of the Attorney General provided to the OAG under this AGREEMENT. All data, including cold storage, will be returned to the AGENCY within 90 days after the end of the matter, along with a load file that includes all tagging and comments pertaining to the electronic data furnished by the

AGENCY. At no time during the AGREEMENT will the OAG be deemed to maintain a

“record copy” as defined in Florida Administrative Code Rule 1B-26.003, Electronic

Recordkeeping.

4. The AGENCY will pay the OAG for legal fees billed in providing E-Discovery

Legal Services to the AGENCY according to the following schedule, for those OAG employees not already specified in the schedule set forth in paragraph 4, PAYMENT, of the AGREEMENT:

Positions Rate per hour

Administrators in E-Discovery & Litigation Support, & E-Discovery Operations Manager

$93/hr.

E-Discovery Operation Production Lead, E-Discovery Operations Technician, E-Discovery and Litigation Support Consultant

$68/hr.

Operations Specialist $48/hr.

5. AGENCY data storage per Subparagraph 1.i. above:

The following rates will apply when it is necessary for the OAG to store AGENCY data itself, for active storage or cold storage:

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Std. Retainer Agreement Attachment A Page 4 of 5 Office of the Attorney General

*Note: For data stored in active storage for any portion of a month, the associated rate for active storage will apply to the entire month.

**Note: Month begins the day the data is uploaded.

6. DUTY OF AGENCY TO TIMELY PROVIDE ELECTRONIC DATA. It is the

AGENCY’S duty to timely provide the requested data to the OAG for provision of E-

Discovery services.

7. The OAG will provide notice of request to deactivate data not accessed by the

AGENCY within 90 days to the AGENCY and provide the following options for the data:

a. Remain in active storage, at the continued applicable rate for active storage;

b. Immediate export of the data for cold storage at the applicable rate plus the cost of storage media, which is based on the size of the data;

c. Immediate export of the data for return to the AGENCY. Cost of media and shipping may apply dependent on the size of the data.

8. Deactivation and reactivation of data will involve services provided by staff at both the manager and production lead positions.

Type of Data Storage Rates

Active storage (this is storage on an OAG server with the ability to immediately access the data)

$2/Per Gigabyte

Cold storage (Off-line storage, requiring that data be fully reloaded if needed – which may take 2-4 business days)

$30 Monthly, plus cost of storage media

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Std. Retainer Agreement Attachment A Page 5 of 5 Office of the Attorney General

9. As necessary for production or for return of the data, the OAG may have to purchase portable storage devices. The cost of the portable storage devices is compensable as a cost and expense under this AGREEMENT.

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07/01/2023

AG CONTRACT NUMBER: _______ LOA # _______ (To be assigned by OAG)

LETTER OF AUTHORIZATION

TO: Office of the Attorney General

FROM:

SUBJECT: Authorization for the Provision of Legal Representation

DATE:

In accordance with ARTICLE 2, SCOPE OF SERVICES, of the current interagency retainer agreement between the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) and this agency, the OAG is authorized to provide the agency the following legal services:

SCOPE OF SERVICES:

Is this a Risk Management case? Yes ____ No ____ Does this complaint seek damages? Yes ____ No ____

FEES: See Article 4(a), PAYMENT, of the current interagency retainer agreement.

COSTS: See Article 4(b), PAYMENT, of the current interagency retainer agreement.

*The agency shall also pay a 5% administrative indirect charge.

____ Relevant materials are attached. ____ Relevant materials will follow.

Special Comments:

Signature Please Print Name Date

Tel. #: ____________________________ Fax #: _________________________

***************************************FOR OAG USE ONLY************************************

Representation Authorized By: _________________________________________

OAG Attorney Assigned: ______________________________________________

AG # _____________________________

CC: Attorney Assigned Finance

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