Simplified Sole Source West Publishing_Redacted.pdf

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JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION

SIMPLIFIED

NNSA Information Management (NA-IM-1) and Office of the General Counsel (NA-GC-10)

West Publishing Corporation

27 June 2024

I. AGENCY IDENTITY AND CONTRACTING ACTIVITY

In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.501(a), the Department of Energy/ National Nuclear Security Administration seeks to procure online legal research capabilities from Westlaw (formally known as West Publishing Corporation, a Thomson Reuters business) in support of the Office of General Counsel (NA-GC-10). The procedures at FAR 13.5, Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Products and Commercial Services, were used in accordance with 41 U.S.C. 1901.

Requesting Office:

Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration Office of the General Counsel, NA-GC-10 24600 20th Street S.E. Building 24600 Kirtland AFB NM, 87110-5400

Contracting Activity:

Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration Program Support Acquisition Branch (NA-PAS-315) P.O. Box 5400 Kirtland AFB NM, 87110-5400

II. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING APPROVED

This document sets forth the justification and approval to issue a sole source award in accordance with FAR 13.501(a) and 41 U.S.C. 1901. The Government will issue the award as a Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) contract to West Publishing Corporation, a Thomson Reuters business to provide online legal research services.

The action is a follow-on effort to the current award, 89233119CNA000117 that will expire on 30 September 2024. Like the current contract, the follow-on contract will have a five year period of performance which includes a base year, plus four, one year option periods.

West Publishing Corporation, DBA West, a Thomson Reuters Business 1333 H Street NW, Suite 700

Washinton, DC 20005 United States Unique Entity Identifier: L997DB4PEJL8

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NAICS: 541199 – All Other Legal Services Size Standard: $20.5 M

Product Service Code: R418 - Support- Professional: Legal Services

III. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES AND/OR SERVICES

The Government seeks to procure online legal research capabilities to support the work of attorneys, paralegals, and legal interns in the NNSA Office of the General Counsel (NA-GC). NA-GC personnel require real-time access to large online databases of statutes, regulations, non-codified legislation, executive orders, case decisions from courts and administrative agencies, journal publications, and other legal materials. The legal research platform utilized by NA-GC must include search features – including direct term searches, predictive language capabilities, etc. - that result in comprehensive, accurate, and prioritized response sets, 100 percent of the time. NA-GC personnel utilize this content to prepare legal pleadings required to defend the agency in legal matters, opinions and memoranda, transactional documents, and administrative legal filings that are mission-essential for NNSA programs. While general legal materials (e.g., laws, regulations, and case decisions) are available from multiple vendors, NA-GC personnel depend on access to secondary source materials that are often unique to a single vendor. Corpus Juris Secundum and Nash & Cibinic are examples of the secondary sources that are regularly utilized by NA-GC personnel. Familiarity is also a critical attribute for NA-GC’s legal research platform because the downtime caused by retraining personnel or by transitioning or replacing stored research libraries, search histories, etc. would lead to unreasonable delays in NA-GC work product.

IV. AUTHORITY

Issuance of a sole source award is authorized in accordance with FAR 13.501(a) and 41 U.S.C.

1901(a)(2).

41 U.S.C. 1901(a)(2), “…To promote efficiency and economy in contracting and to avoid unnecessary burdens for agencies and contractors, the Federal Acquisition Regulation shall provide for special simplified procedures for purchases of property and services for amounts greater than the simplified acquisition threshold but not greater than $5,000,000 for which the contracting officer reasonably expects, based on the nature of the property or services sought and on market research, that offers will include only commercial products or commercial services.”

V. APPLICATION OF AUTHORITY

West Publishing Corporation, a Thomson Reuters business, is the foremost provider of integrated information solutions to the U.S. legal market and has been providing research materials to the legal and professional community for more than 150 years. The Contractor’s specialized capabilities (see below) meet the Office of General Counsel’s legal research requirements and are essential for mission operations.

Critically, the Contractor is the only vendor capable of providing the Government with access to secondary sources like Corpus Juris Secundum and Nash & Cibinic, which are among the suite of legal resources that NA-GC depends on to accomplish its mission work. Also, as an incumbent provider of legal research capabilities to NNSA, only West Publishing Corporation can provide a product that eliminates

Page 3 of 6 Pages any need for retraining of attorneys on a new search platform or for the repopulation of existing search histories or research libraries. West Publishing Corporation’s product also contains unique research and analysis features that attorneys rely upon to ensure their legal pleadings are accurate, up-to-date and proper for filing in the various jurisdictions in which they practice.

Westlaw Edge provides an advanced citator service, which is an efficient way to see statutory changes, and integrated litigation analytics, all powered by state-of-the-art artificial intelligence and built upon more than 100 years of editorial enhancements.

As described by Westlaw, Westlaw Edge provides access to the following exclusive features:

▪ Compare Text Tool—Compare the language of documents across many content sets.

▪ Concurring and Dissenting Opinion Shading—Instantly know if your search language is in the cases’ main opinion, or rather in the concurrence or dissent.

▪ West Key Number System— The West Key Number System is the master classification system of U.S.

law and is widely regarded as the cornerstone of effective legal research. It helps users to quickly locate and identify cases with the same or similar legal concepts and principals in any jurisdiction in the U.S., utilizing the West National Digest System, which contains editorial summaries commonly referred to as headnotes.

▪ KeyCite Citator Service—KeyCite is a full-service citator that helps users determine whether a proposition is good law by tracing the history of a case, statute, patent, or federal administrative decision.

KeyCite also retrieves all citing references, which include cases, statutes, administrative materials, and secondary sources.

▪ Research Recommendations—Based upon documents the user has interacted with during their session, Westlaw will recommend additional primary and secondary law as well as Key Numbers.

▪ Snapshots—Westlaw gives snapshots of companies, legal professionals, and popular statutes.

▪ Folder Analysis—Westlaw makes suggestions, identifying the legal issues present through automatic analysis of cases and statutes in a folder. Users can view additional recommended cases and statutes, see a visual representation of issues, and navigate documents by issue.

▪ Research Report— Westlaw assembles professional reports, summarizing research in users’ folders.

Users can navigate reports with Table of Contents links, display all notations (including shared notes), and edit notes from the summary screen.

▪ Reference Attorneys—Bar-admitted legal research experts are available to assist users with any stage of legal research by providing time-saving guidance.

▪ Authoritative content—With the most trusted primary law resources and leading analytical titles that are cited most often in court—all in one place and always available—researchers have access to all of the relevant information they need to answer a legal question.

▪ Attorney editor enhancements—For more than a century, our attorney editors have been analyzing, summarizing, and classifying the law. By developing proprietary innovations like the West Key Number System, KeyCite, headnotes, and Notes of Decisions, we make the content better organized and connected so it’s easier for researchers to find accurate answers quickly.

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▪ Industry-defining technology—Our research innovations, such as WestSearch, the award-winning mobile app, Folder Analysis, Research Recommendations, Law Summaries, and Graphical Statutes connect content and our proprietary analysis of the law in unparalleled ways so that legal professionals can conduct research faster and with more accuracy. Advanced, yet intuitive, easy-to-use functionality also helps researchers be more efficient.

These features help make legal research more efficient and effective. The KeyCite and West Key Number System aide in locating cases and citations in a quick and streamlined manner. The compare text tool and opinion shading are additional features that are convenient in conducting legal research. The platforms tools provide a unified and user-friendly experience, which enhances our legal research.

Westlaw also describes exclusive content, which includes:

▪ Editorial Enhancements—For more than a century, Westlaw attorney editors have been providing editorial enhancements to case law, statutes, and other legal materials, which includes providing the most exhaustive verification and correction process in the legal publishing and information industry. No other research service can match Westlaw’s editorial experience.

▪ National Reporter System—Since 1879, West’s National Reporter System has compiled and organized federal and state case law into a cohesive body of law that can be researched within and across jurisdictions. West’s National Reporter System is available exclusively on Westlaw.

▪ Graphical Statutes/Interactive Timeline— Graphical Statutes revolutionizes statute research by charting legislative changes and linking related documents in an easy-to-read display. From a single screen, researchers can easily track changes in the law, locate relevant legislative history materials, read important case law, and check for possible amendments. Graphical Statutes is available for USCA and the statutes for select states.

▪ Uniform Laws Annotated (ULA)—The ULA provides an extensive reference to the text of uniform laws, prepared under the sponsorship of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws and the American Law Institute. ULA examines acts recommended for adoption in all states, pinpoints state variations, and includes annotations to cases decided in adopting jurisdictions.

▪ Corpus Juris Secundum (CJS)—CJS helps researchers understand unfamiliar areas of law by providing links to cases, statutes, regulations, key numbers, restatements, and more. CJS covers the full breadth and depth of the law, is cited to tens of thousands of times by the courts and is fully integrated with the West Key Number System.

▪ American Jurisprudence: Full Library—Only Westlaw provides access to the full collection of AmJur resources, including American Jurisprudence 2nd, American Jurisprudence Proof of Facts, American Jurisprudence Trials, and American Jurisprudence Pleadings and Practice Forms. These resources provide fast, authoritative answers to many aspects of civil, criminal, substantive, and procedural law.

The additional content provides us with additional resources to evaluate our legal issues. For example, American Jurisprudence is a reliable resource to find sources when the question is ambiguous or difficult to define. This additional content expands the scope of our ability to research nuanced legal issues in an efficient and effective manner.

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VI. EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY ADDITIONAL SOURCES

The Government performed a search for legal services; however, it was deemed by the Office of General Counsel that Westlaw Publishing Corporation meets the requirements to support the mission.

The above-described notice constitutes a synopsis of the proposed contract action and satisfies the requirements of FAR 5.201(b)(1)(i).

VII. DETERMINATION OF REASONABLENESS OF COST OR PRICE

Prior to award, the Contracting Officer will determine that prices paid are fair and reasonable in accordance with FAR 13.106-3(a)(2). Notably, the Contracting Officer will be able to determine that prices paid are fair and reasonable by comparing quoted prices to commercially available price lists, the Independent Government estimate, GSA Pricing, and FedLink pricing. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Government reserves the right to require data other than certified cost and pricing data if deemed necessary by the Contracting Officer.

VIII. MARKET RESEARCH

Market research was conducted in accordance with FAR 10.001(a)(2). This was a previous purchase to Westlaw Publishing as a five (5) year contract; 89233119CNA000117, Period of Performance of 10/1/2019 to 09/30/2024 as a simplified acquisition, sole source.

Market research was conducted by searching for and reviewing various on-line research databases such as:

vLex/FastCase, LoisLaw, VersusLaw, Hein On-Line.

These research tools offered state court opinions and statutes for all 50 states and access to federal and state cases, however, the databases did not offer core legal research resources required by NA-GC to perform mission essential work in a timely basis. Failure to have essential research tools readily available would result in delays to critical court deadlines.

IX. OTHER FACTS

Not Applicable.

X. INTERESTED SOURCES

Not Applicable.

XI. STEPS TO FOSTER COMPETITION

Other available products do not fully meet the requirements. Therefore, this is a sole-item purchase from the sole-source authorized to provide research services from Westlaw Publishing Corporation.

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XII. CERTIFICATIONS

Acquisition Initiator/Technical Representative:

I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance, which are included in this justification, and which form a basis for this justification, are complete and accurate.

COR/PM Date

Contracting Officer:

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Brenda R. Hamilton Date

Reviews and Approvals

Competition Advocate:

I have reviewed this justification and find it to be accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Since this JOFOC does not exceed $15M, this review serves as approval.

Signature Date