RFI - Legal Subscriptions.pdf

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Request for Information FDIC Legal Research, Drafting, and

Legal Resource Repository Tools

July 25, 2025

Respond via email to:

Andy Greenfield

FDIC Contracting Officer agreenfield@FDIC.gov

Response Deadline

08/19/2025 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Submission of any information in response to this RFI is voluntary. However, the FDIC may make procurement decisions based solely on responses to this RFI. A failure to respond may result in a vendor not being included on a solicitation list. Stated another way, responding to this RFI may be the only opportunity a firm has to be considered for this requirement.

1. Summary

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) seeks to identify commercial products (i.e., not requiring a software development effort) to fulfill the following needs of the FDIC:

Requirement 1: Legal Research Database(s);

Requirement 2: Legal Document Writing Tool; and Requirement 3: Legal Resource Repository.

The FDIC’s objectives in releasing this Request for Information (RFI) include:

Identifying the availability and capabilities of presently available commercial solutions;

Receiving feedback on the FDIC’s requirements;

Understanding pricing for these commercial products; and Understanding the Market Place and identifying potential vendors who can provide these products.

The FDIC may request demos from vendors who respond to the RFI. Failure to respond to the

RFI in a timely manner may result in vendor exclusion from receiving an invitation for a vendor demo.

2. Background

Access to legal and regulatory materials has been vital to the FDIC since President Franklin

Roosevelt signed the Banking Act of 1933 into law creating the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Over the past 25 years, electronic access to legal and regulatory databases has become critical as print access to this information has rapidly declined.

2.1 About the FDIC

The FDIC is a government corporation and agency of the federal government. Congress created the FDIC under the Banking Act of 1933 to maintain stability and public confidence in the nation’s financial system by insuring deposits, examining and supervising financial institutions, and managing receiverships of failed banks. The FDIC operates in three distinct capacities: corporate, receivership, and conservatorship.

The FDIC receives no Congressional appropriations and is funded by premiums that banks and savings associations pay for deposit insurance coverage. The FDIC also has independent statutory authority for entering into contracts, 12 U.S.C. § 1819(a). The FDIC, and this RFI, are not subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Instead of the FAR, the FDIC uses the FDIC’s Acquisition Procedures and Guidance Manual.

2.2 FDIC Current State of Legal Research Services

Currently, the FDIC licenses products from multiple vendors such as Westlaw Edge, LexisNexis, Bloomberg Law, and Heinonline for various aspects of current and historical legal research and current awareness. These tools support multiple statutorily required roles and functions in the legal, receivership and resolutions, and equal employment and professional conduct divisions. Usage for these products ranges from 30-450 users with core use for Business Law, Litigation, Dockets, Court Wire Alerts, Legislative History, News, Public Records, Sample Agreements, and Trial Transcripts and Oral Arguments.

2.3 FDIC Current State of Legal Document Writing Tools (Thomson Reuters/West Drafting Assistant)

The FDIC Legal Division currently uses the Thomson Reuters/West Drafting Assistant (Drafting

Assistant), which is an add-in for Microsoft Word and also offers a browser version. The Drafting Assistant integrates with Westlaw to aid in drafting legal documents, including for example, locating authorities, checking citations, creating Tables of Authority, providing template documents, and formatting documents.

The Drafting Assistant is an optional tool used by legal staff when drafting legal briefs and documents. It helps users ensure accuracy and identify errors and missing information and flags outdated citations. The Drafting Assistant also recommends citations to further support a user’s argument. Legal staff can utilize Drafting Assistant to analyze opposing counsel’s documents and identify weaknesses in their arguments. Finally, the Drafting Assistant quickly inserts Table of Authorities and formats documents and citations per the required jurisdiction, which can result in a large time saving.

2.4 FDIC Current Legal Resource Repository (West Private File)

The FDIC Legal Division currently utilizes Westlaw’s product, Private Files, which the FDIC refers to internally as the Westlaw Legal Research Bank (LRB). The LRB was created in 1991 to centralize all substantive legal work products of the Legal Division, including outside counsel. The LRB is a system of databases that are access restricted based on Legal Division unit/section. Outside Counsel is also able to access one of the LRB databases. The LRB has robust search capabilities via integration with Westlaw Edge, allowing for efficient legal research, including hyperlinking to cases and other internal opinions. Another advantage that the private file offers is tracking all additions and deletions of legal memoranda, which provides historical comparison.

Additionally, FDIC outside counsels use the information in the West Private File to save time and money associated with legal research on issues the FDIC already has addressed. In addition to the 400-500 internal FDIC users, there are currently approximately 130 outside counsel law firms with access to the FDIC’s instance of the Private File. Our experience is that outside counsel numbers can increase significantly with bank failures.

Within the Private File, the FDIC maintains the following separate “private libraries,” all of which have separate user access permissions based on which unit/section a Legal Division employee is assigned to or based on status as Outside Counsel. These libraries consist of eight distinct subject matters – CAS (Corporate Opinions Unit and Labor and Employment Section), GPD (Golden Parachute Deskbook), LRB (Legal Research Bank), MOU (Memorandum of Understanding), OCLRB (Outside Counsel Legal Research Bank), RGWS (Receivership Goodwill), SLB (Supervisory and Open Bank), and Trips (Foreign Mission Files).

Private File content volume and numbers of users are summarized in the table below:

Library Library Full Name No. of Docs Date Range No. of Users CAS Corporate Opinions Unit and Labor and Employment Section

4260 1938-2024 35 empl.

GPD Golden Parachute Desk book

1 2016 25 empl.

LRB Legal Research Bank 4150 1936-2019 All Legal empl. (400- 500)

MOU Memorandum of Understanding

490 2001-2019 30 empl.

OCLRB Outside Counsel Legal Research Bank

16700 1933-2019 150 empl. + 130 law firms

RGWS Receivership Goodwill n/a n/a n/a SLB Supervisory and Open Bank 4700 1933-2024 n/a Trips Foreign Mission Files n/a n/a n/a

The following table contains historical data of Private Files Usage (Jan 2022 - June 2023):

Library Usage by User

Hours Spent

Avg. Hours Interaction Doc View

CAS 28 0-216.75 26.01 1-1154 0-110

GPD 19 0.19-8.53 2.40 1-16 0-1

LRB 133 0-33.94 2.52 1-496 0-83

MOU 21 0-1.55 0.20 1-29 0-2

OCLRB 107 0-11.29 1.1 1-378 0-13

RGWS n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a

SLB 80 0.01-66.04 6.69 1-790 0-885

Trips n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a The above Private Files Usage table contains the usage data from January 2022 to June 2023, which was obtained from the vendor. The “Usage by User” column contains the number of users that accessed the library (each row is a library). “Hours Spent” specifies a range of hours spent by users in that library for the time span. “Avg. Hours” is the average of the previous column. “Interaction” means, for example, searching, foldering, and annotating. “Doc View” means the number of documents viewed by the users in that library for the time span.

2.5 Additional Services

The FDIC also licenses supplemental information that supports legal research such as public records databases, legal news databases, global regulatory legal news databases, business compliance databases, and law and policy resources. Resources containing these types of information should also be included in the response.

3. Requested Information

Please provide the following information, in the same format and order/organization as listed below unless otherwise noted. Respondents may also provide additional information about their capabilities and experience, beyond what is specifically requested. Responses cannot exceed 25 pages (measuring 8.5 by 11 inches, with 1-inch margins) and 12-point font size.

3.1 Company Information Section

1. Company name, address, and web address.

2. Company point(s) of contact, including name, position, phone number, and email address.

3. Confirmation of whether a domestic (U.S. company) or foreign owned business.

4. If foreign owned, country of residence.

5. Confirmation of SAM.gov registration and please provide entity ID number.

6. Please provide a list of other Government Agencies, if any, your company currently provides the Legal Resource Repository tool. Please provide the Government Agency and Contract Number. If possible, please provide up to three (3) examples.

3.2 Technical Capability Section

1. In the Technical Capability section, please describe in detail each of your three product offerings (Legal Research Database(s), Legal Document Writing Tool, and Legal Resource Repository).

a. If your company has different product offerings in the same category (for instance, two separate Legal Resource Repositories or two separate Legal Document Writing Tools), please include a chart or other aid in distinguishing the product offerings.

2. Please clearly state whether the product offerings are a Commercial Off the Shelf Product (COTS) already deployed and in use by U.S. Government customers or whether any part of your product requires a development effort to meet the FDIC’s requirements.

3. Please describe the information, features, and functionality of the legal research database(s).

a. List all legal research resources in the legal research database including all primary and secondary sources of information covering all areas of law in a separate excel spreadsheet. Please be sure to include all special collections related to banking, finance, management, labor, accounting, taxation, etc…

b. Describe all advanced search and retrieval capabilities including saved searches.

c. Describe the legal citator (if included).

d. Describe the database(s) docket support (if included).

e. Describe Printing, Downloading, and Saving features associated with the legal research database(s).

f. If available, please describe any E-discovery functionality included or integrated into the legal research database(s).

4. Please describe in detail all artificial intelligence capabilities available with the research database, including the level of integration across the platform and if these features can be removed or turned off. Please include, in as much detail as possible, the configuration and type of artificial intelligence used.

5. Please describe any public records database that may be available. Please list all types of information available and the functionality offered.

6. Please describe any legal news database that may be available. Please list all types of information available and the functionality offered.

7. Please describe any business compliance database that may be available. Please list all types of information available and the functionality offered.

8. For the Legal Resource Repository, please specify the following:

a. User access/use restrictions within the system,

b. The ability to add or extract content,

c. List of the functionality within product, and

d. Where and in what format the FDIC documents would be hosted.

9. Please explain any interoperability and dependencies of the proposed products.

a. What capability limitations, if any, exist for the Legal Document Writing Tool and Legal

Opinion Repository if they are purchased as standalone tools?

b. Can the Legal Document Writing Tool and Legal Opinion Repository be integrated and operate with Legal Research Databases from other vendors? If yes, what are the implementation requirements for such a cross-vendor integration?

10. For the Legal Document Writing Tool, explain the level of Microsoft Office 365 integration.

11. Please discuss training options and all associated costs (if any) with all of the product offerings submitted.

12. Please describe all database authentication methods available.

13. Please describe usage report availability and formats.

3.3 File Migration Section (for Legal Resource Repository)

1. The FDIC Legal Division has over 44,000 individual internal legal documents, almost all of which have hyperlinks to other internal documents or citations of Westlaw public legal research resources, hosted in the Westlaw Private File.

2. Please describe the process of migrating the documents from Westlaw’s Private File to your overall solution(s). Please include how (for example, maintaining link functionality, and file format requirements), by whom, anticipated transfer timeline.

a. Are there costs associated with migration or would this be included in the overall solution?

3. Please describe the document-hosting options and cost and benefits of each proposed option.

Please specify the technical requirements if self-hosting by the FDIC is proposed as one of the options.

3.4 Security Section (Applicable to all three tools, but primarily the Legal Document Writing and Legal Resource Repository Tools)

For each of the three product offerings (Legal Research, Legal Document Writing Tool, and Legal Resource Repository) explain the following:

1. (For Each Product Offering): Does the product have a valid authority to operate (ATO) authorized by federal agencies? Please identify each agency or federal organization that provided such ATOs.

2. (For Each Product Offering): Are the vendor’s product offerings FedRAMP authorized? More specifically–

a. Do the product offerings themselves have a Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) MODERATE impact level authorization, or

b. Is the product offering and associated user data hosted entirely within a FedRAMP

MODERATE impact level authorized environment.

3. (For Each Product Offering): If your product offerings do not currently have a FedRAMP moderate authorization:

a. Is your company pursuing this and what is the status and anticipated timeline for obtaining the authorization?

b. What security authorization do you currently have for each of your offered products?

3.5 Deliverables

Below is a list of potential deliverables that FDIC is considering. Can you please place an “X” in either the “Yes” or “No” Column indicting if you can provide these items.

Potential Deliverables Yes No Legal Research Database Legal Research Database AI Enhancement Legal Briefs Storage and Delivery (Legal Resource Repository) Legal Document Writing Support Public Records Database Legal News Database Global Regulatory Legal News Database Business Compliance Database Law and Policy Resources

3.6 Pricing Information

FDIC will potentially have up to 550 users of the Legal Research tool, up to 425 users of the Legal Document Writing tool, and 50,000 legal opinions and 600 users for the Legal Resource Repository tool (425 FDIC users plus at least 130 outside counsel law firm users who may or may not have their own licenses to your company’s Legal Research tool).

For the potential product offerings, please explain the following:

1. How are each of the three products (Legal Research Tool, Legal Document Writing Tool & Legal Resource Repository Tool) normally priced? For example, is each tool priced out per number of users, by volume of data hosted, enterprise-wide, or on some other basis?

2. Are there tiered pricing for the three products. If yes, what are the tiers?

3. For the Legal Resource Repository tool, how would migration from Westlaw’s Private File be priced (Time and Materials, Firm Fixed Price, by Data Volume, etc.)?

4. Is training provided as part of the subscription license for each of the product offerings or does training need to be purchased as a separate Line Item? If so, what type, level/amount of training is included for each of the three product offerings?

5. Does your company offer volume discounts/pricing advantages by purchasing more than one of the product types offered by your company?

6. Please feel free to provide any additional information you believe would assist the FDIC with understanding how your products are potentially priced out. (See above for numbers of users and data volume.)

3.8 Additional Feedback

Please feel free to include in this section of your RFI response any feedback on the FDIC’s requirements or other recommendations the FDIC should consider when procuring a solution to meet its requirements.

4. Submission Instructions

This RFI is solely for information, planning, and analysis purposes. It does not constitute a request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP and any response provided will not be considered an offer. The FDIC is not liable for any costs incurred by vendors in responding to this RFI.

The FDIC is requesting written responses but reserves the right to meet one-on-one with all, some, or one of the RFI respondents. Please submit your written responses electronically to this RFI to the Contracting Officer (CO), Andy Greenfield, at agreenfield@fdic.gov by 12:00pm EST on August 19, 2025. The CO may contact responders to clarify capabilities or other matters.

4.1. Deadline

All responses to this RFI must reach the Contracting Officer listed on the cover page of this RFI, by email to the listed email address, by the date and time listed on the cover page and within the page limit identified.

4.2 Questions

Any questions about this RFI should be emailed by August 08, 2025, by 12:00 pm Eastern Time, to Andy Greenfield at agreenfield@fdic.gov. If the FDIC determines that a question received is significant enough to impact all vendors, the FDIC may issue an amendment to this RFI or post publicly a list of Q&As.

4.3 Notices

This RFI is solely for information, planning, and analysis purposes. It does not constitute a

Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP and any response provided will not be considered an offer.

Vendors should not anticipate feedback, other than an acknowledgement of receipt.

Submission of any information in response to this request is voluntary. However, the FDIC may make procurement decisions based solely on responses to this RFI. In other words, responding to this RFI may be the only opportunity a firm has to be considered for this requirement.

The FDIC is not liable for any costs incurred by vendors developing responses for this RFI. No party is bound by the information provided in response to this RFI. All information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the government. All submissions become the property of the FDIC and will not be returned.

This RFI does not obligate the FDIC to issue a solicitation or RFP, contract for services, or guarantee inclusion of your firm on any potential solicitation list. The RFI responses will not be “scored” or formally evaluated in any way. The FDIC recognizes that many potential responders may only have information related to a portion of the experience listed below.

Therefore, while the FDIC seeks to define a common solution that addresses all of the questions, it does not discourage partial responses. If you choose not to respond to a question, indicate “no response” and identify the rationale.

Interested vendors should be registered in the System of Award Management (www.SAM.gov).

Any future solicitations may be by invitation-only and may not be released to the general public.

The FDIC reserves the right to use any and all information submitted by, or obtained from, this RFI in any manner FDIC determines is appropriate including, but not limited to, the creation of a competitive solicitation. If responses include business confidential and/or proprietary information, the information must be clearly marked accordingly, and the FDIC will safeguard it appropriately.