FHF-26-Q-0003.docx

FHF-26-Q-0003

Legal Services for EEO & Employment Law Matters This is a combined synopsis/solicitation and request for quotations (RFQ) for commercial products or commercial services in accordance with the procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 12 - Acquisition of Commercial Products and Commercial Services and FAR part 13 - Simplified Acquisition Procedures, with FAR part 12 taking precedence per FAR 13.500(b)’s reference to FAR 12.102(c). This announcement constitutes the only solicitation with quotes requested.

FHFA is seeking the services of law firms that are experienced in Federal employment law matters and are able to respond quickly to urgent matters as they arise. FHFA is not seeking attorney staffing services. The scope of the technical tasks for which future task orders may be issued is set forth in Attachment A, Performance Work Statement (PWS). Please refer to the PWS for additional information.

FHFA anticipates awarding two (2) Indefinite-Delivery, Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contracts resulting from this solicitation; however, the Government retains the right to award fewer or more than two (2) awards should it be determined in FHFA's best interest.

This requirement is set-aside for small business concerns under NAICS code 541110 Office of Lawyers with a size standard of $15.5 million.

Questions, Suggested Alternate Terms, and Answers Quoters are invited to submit any questions or suggested alternate terms (including changes to the solicitation, contract clauses, statement of assumptions, or other terms). FHFA will consider all input and attempt to balance the needs of all parties.

Questions or other suggested changes must be submitted via email to Laura Baker, Contracting Officer at Laura.Baker@fhfa.gov by 1:00pm Eastern on January 8, 2025. Questions, any written responses, or amendments will be posted at the Contract Opportunities webpage (please see https://sam.gov/content/opportunities for more information). Quoters must use Attachment F to organize and submit their questions.

FAR References Any FAR clauses or provisions referenced may be obtained at www.acquisition.gov/far. Also, any reference to offeror or offer has the same meaning as quoter or quotation for this solicitation. The solicitation document and incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through Federal Acquisition Circular FAC 2025-06, October 1, 2025.

Submission Instructions Quoters shall be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) when submitting a quotation and at time of award as stated in FAR 52.204-7(b)(1).

A Quoter that is not actively registered in SAM at the time of quote submission will not have its quote considered and will not be eligible for award.

Each Quoter shall submit an electronic quotation (Volumes I, II, III, and IV in separate files) to Laura Baker, Contracting Officer at Laura.Baker@fhfa.gov.

The electronic quotation shall include any scanned copies of signatures associated with the quotation.

If a Quoter chooses to submit a quotation, the quotation must remain valid for a minimum of 90 calendar days.

Quotations are due no later than the date and time identified on the Contract Opportunities webpage. Late submissions, modifications, and revisions will be managed in accordance with FAR 52.212-1(f).

Volume I: Technical Quotation - Law Firm Experience

Volume I must include a one (1) page, cover page addressing the following information:

1. RFQ Number

2. Quoter’s Name

3. Subcontractor Name(s), If Applicable

4. Quoter System for Award Management (SAM) Unique Entity Identifier (UEI)

5. Contact Name

6. Contact Email address

7. Contact telephone number

8. Complete business mailing address

9. Response to OCI Statement required under 6.213 Organizational Conflict of Interest (JUL 2012)

10. Response to fill-in at FAR 52.212-4 with Alt I, subparagraph (a)(4): [Insert portion of labor rate attributable to profit.]

11. The following statement “The Quoter takes no exception and completely accepts all the terms and conditions in the RFQ and subsequent amendments.”

The Quoter’s technical submission should demonstrate the firm’s capability to perform the work requirements outlined in the PWS (Attachment A). Volume I shall address the Quoter's Law Firm Experience.

Law Firm Experience

The Government will evaluate the extent and relevance of the law firm’s experience in Federal employment law matters as described in the PWS. The firm must specialize in Federal employment law or have a well-established practice group that specializes in Federal employment law. In addressing this factor, the quoter must describe the firm’s relevant experience in the field to include: 1) number of attorneys in the firm who currently specialize in Federal employment law and the titles of those attorneys (i.e., how many partners and associates at the firm actively represent clients in federal employment law); 2) the number of years the firm or practice group has specialized in federal employment law; and 3) experience representing and/or advising Federal agencies in federal employment law matters.

The Law Firm Experience submission shall not exceed two (2) pages. Excessively small font may be rejected or not evaluated at the Contracting Officer’s discretion. Pages that exceed the maximum page limitation will not be evaluated.

Page Limitation. The page limits for each section of Volume I are as specified above. The total page limit for Volume I is three (3) pages.

As described under the Evaluation and Selection Process section, only vendors who are the most highly rated with respect to Law Firm Experience will be evaluated under Volumes II and III.

Volume II: Technical Quotation – Personnel Experience, Past Performance, and Conflict of Interest Mitigation Plan

Volume II shall address in separate sections the Quoter's (1) Personnel Experience, (2) Past Performance, and (3) Conflict of Interest Mitigation Plan.

Personnel Experience

The Government will evaluate the extent to which the quoter’s proposed personnel demonstrate experience relevant to the required tasks. The Quoter shall complete the Personnel Questionnaire (Attachment E) for up to three (3) individuals proposed at the partner level and up to three (3) individuals proposed at the associate level (see labor category descriptions in the PWS). The individuals submitted shall be those the Quoter is most likely to propose for future Task Order competitions. The questionnaire response for each attorney shall not exceed three (3) pages.

The Quoter shall also provide a resume for each attorney for whom a questionnaire is submitted. Each resume shall not exceed two (2) pages.

Past Performance

The Government will evaluate recent and relevant past performance of each Vendor. A Vendor may submit past performance examples for itself and for any subcontractors. However, Vendors must include at least one reference for subcontractors that will perform any portion of the work.

Vendors shall submit three (3) examples of contracts performed by the Vendor or subcontractors, demonstrating recent and relevant past performance. Recent is defined as within the last three (3) years from the date of this RFQ. Relevant is defined as work similar in scope, complexity, and magnitude to that identified in Attachment A. Past performance representing federal agencies is preferred. Please include the following information, limited to no more than two (2) pages for all three (3) examples:

1. Customer Name and Address.

2. Contract Number/Contract Title/Contract Type.

3. Period of Performance.

4. Contract Value.

5. Description of the work performed.

6. Customer Point of Contact (Name, Telephone Number and Address) for Business Manager and Technical Manager.

7. If applicable, the Contracting Officer’s name, address, telephone number and email address.

8. Current status, e.g., completed and/or in progress, start and estimated completion dates.

9. A brief narrative of why your firm believes this reference is relevant to the proposed effort.

Vendors are advised that by submitting a quotation, FHFA may use any data available in the evaluation of past performance, including data concerning any subcontractors. By submitting a quotation, the Vendor acknowledges that it has received a consent letter from each applicable subcontractor, authorizing release by FHFA of adverse past performance information to the Vendor, so the Vendor can respond to such information. For each identified effort for a commercial customer (reference), the Vendor (to include all subcontractors) also acknowledges by submitting a quotation that it has notified each reference in writing that the reference is authorized to release to FHFA any of the Vendor’s or proposed subcontractor(s)’ past performance information directly to FHFA.

Conflict of Interest Mitigation Plan

The Government will evaluate the methods employed by the Vendor to detect, avoid, mitigate, and provide notice of any existing or potential Conflict of Interest (COI).

All vendors shall submit a COI Mitigation Plan as part of their quote. The COI Plan shall identify any potential or existing COI with respect to their firm’s representation of FHFA. As part of the plan, and regardless of whether a COI currently exists, Vendors shall also explain how they will monitor, detect, avoid, and mitigate any existing or potential COI. The quoted COI Mitigation Plan will be included as part of the contract. Refer to Section 6 of the PWS (Attachment A) for further details. The COI Mitigation Plan shall not exceed three (3) pages.

Page Limitation. Page limits for each part of the technical submission are as specified above. The font and format should be of readable quality. Excessively small font may be rejected or not evaluated at the Contracting Officer’s discretion. Pages that exceed the maximum page limitation will not be evaluated.

Quoters shall not include any price information in Volume I or Volume II. For the overall technical quotation, a recitation or paraphrasing of the requirements already identified in the PWS will not improve the quotation.

As described under the Evaluation and Selection Process section, the Agency will evaluate the proposed fully burdened labor rates (Volume III) of the two most highly rated quotes to determine if the rates are fair and reasonable.

Volume III: Price Quotation

Each Quoter shall submit a price quotation separate from the technical quotation (Volumes I and II). The completed Attachment D shall be submitted in Excel format (.xlsx).

The Quoter shall complete the provided Attachment D Pricing Worksheet, for the services identified in the PWS (Attachment A). The Quoter shall identify and provide fully loaded labor rates for all labor categories/titles (for example, Partner, Associate, Junior Associate, Paralegal), for each listed year of performance (Ordering Periods I, II, III, IV, and V, and Years VI, VII, and VIII) that may be needed to satisfy the requirements of Attachment A PWS. Note that although the awarded IDIQ contracts will be for five (5) years, quoters are to provide labor rates for three (3) additional years. These three (3) additional years of labor rates will be utilized for any task order with a period of performance that extends beyond the five-year IDIQ ordering period. Aside from the other direct costs allowed under Section 9 of the PWS, the labor rates must include all costs associated with performance including all overhead, overtime, local travel, and other costs. All labor rates shall be rounded to two decimal points.

Page Limitation. There is no page limitation on the price quote submission.

Volume IV: Representations and Certifications

Quoters shall submit their response to FAR 52.204-24 and FAR 52.209-7, as applicable.

Quoters shall submit representations and certifications per FAR 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Products and Commercial Services (MAY 2024) (DEVIATION FEB 2025) (see FAR 52.212-3(b) for those representations and certifications that the quoter shall complete electronically). Please note sections (d) and (t) are considered “Reserved” for this solicitation.

NOTE: System updates may lag policy updates. The System for Award Management (SAM) may continue to require entities to complete representations based on provisions that are not included in agency solicitations. Examples include 52.222-25, Affirmative Action Compliance, 52.223-22, Public Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Reduction Goals—Representation, and paragraphs (d) and (t) of 52.212-3, Offeror Representations and Certifications—Commercial Products and Commercial Services. Contracting officers will not consider these representations when making award decisions or enforce requirements. Entities are not required to, nor are they able to, update their entity registration to remove these representations in SAM.

Evaluation and Selection Process FHFA’s Contracting Officer reserves the right to conduct a compliance review and reject any quotation as non-compliant if the quotation takes exception to any of the terms of the RFQ, includes assumptions, or does not conform to the RFQ’s submission instructions.

Since this award is made under the policies of FAR part 12 in conjunction with FAR part 13 procedures, the evaluation process is streamlined, and FHFA has considerable flexibility in its award decision. FHFA will evaluate the quotation considering positive attributes, negative attributes, and potential risk of the overall quotation.

If FHFA conducts exchanges, exchanges may be with one, several, or all Quoters. Exchanges may vary based on FHFA’s need to understand or give the Quoters an opportunity to improve their quotations, but all exchanges will be fair and equitable.

The source selection process will not be based on a lowest-priced, technically acceptable basis or on best-value tradeoffs between technical merit and price. For this effort, best value to the Agency will be determined based on the Highest Rated Quotes with a Fair and Reasonable Price. Award will be made to the two quoters whose quotes receive the highest technical ratings (Volumes I and II submissions) that are also determined to have fair and reasonable pricing (Volume III submission). There will be no tradeoff between non-price factors (Law Firm Experience, Personnel Experience, Past Performance, and COI Mitigation Plan) and price, and there is no relative weighting between the non-price factors and price. There will not be a tradeoff to justify paying a premium for a higher technically rated quote. In this process, the government is concerned with receiving the best technical quotes with fair and reasonable labor rates. FHFA anticipates that best-value tradeoff evaluation schemes will be used when conducting Task Order competitions among contract awardees.

The evaluation will proceed as follows. First, the Agency will first evaluate Law Firm Experience (Volume I). Quotes that are not among the most highly rated will not be evaluated further. Second, the Agency will evaluate the remaining quotes under all non-price factors (Volume II) and rank the highest-rated quotes. The Agency reserves the right to conduct oral presentations with vendors if necessary to further evaluate the non-price factors. If oral presentations are required, the Agency will provide the most highly rated vendors with instructions for the presentations. Vendors who are not selected for oral presentations will no longer be considered for award. Third, the Agency will evaluate the proposed fully burdened labor rates (Volume III) of the two most highly rated quotes to determine if the rates are fair and reasonable. The Agency will not evaluate the pricing of those quotes that are not the two most highly rated. If the labor rates of the two most highly rated quotes are evaluated as fair and reasonable, those quotes will be determined to represent the best value to FHFA and be selected for award.

Proposed labor rates will be evaluated for reasonableness using the price analysis techniques outlined in FAR 15.404-1(b)(2), which may include comparisons of similar labor categories on current FHFA contracts for legal services, as well as through the use of other price comparison tools. FHFA reserves the right to conduct a price realism analysis to assess whether the proposed prices are unrealistically low. Unrealistically low prices may be considered a negative attribute to the extent that they reflect a lack of technical understanding or a risk to meeting requirements. The fair and reasonable evaluation of rates will be used to establish maximum rates on awarded contracts.

FHFA anticipates awarding two (2) IDIQ contracts resulting from this solicitation; however, the Government retains the right to award fewer or more than two (2) awards should it be determined in FHFA's best interest.

List of Attachments

Attachment A Performance Work Statement Attachment B Clauses and Provisions Attachment C Wage Determination Attachment D Pricing Worksheet Attachment E Personnel Questionnaire Attachment F Solicitation Questions