PWS DepositionCourtRptSvcs-20191203.pdf

PERFORMANCE WORK STATEMENT (PWS)

COURT REPORTING SERVICES

For the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Honolulu District

Office of Counsel

25 November 2019

PART 1

COURT REPORTING SERVICES

1. General. This is a non-personal services contract to provide court reporting services for a maximum of fifteen (15) depositions and their transcripts.

1.2 Background. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Honolulu District, Office of Counsel, participates in various legal proceedings in which a verbatim transcript is required. The Government requires court reporting services and copies of the deposition transcripts.

1.3 Scope. The Contractor shall provide court reporting services for approximately fifteen (15) depositions to be held during the period of performance identified in paragraph 1.4. The Contractor shall provide electronic copies of deposition transcripts. The Contractor shall provide a room or an appropriate facility to accommodate four (4) or more people for the deposition. The Honolulu District Office of

Counsel (“OC”) will coordinate the scheduling of the depositions with the Contractor. The Government will seek to provide at least three (3) business days notice before a deposition will be taken. There may be occasions when multiple depositions will be taken over several days and/or depositions will be rescheduled. Services for this requirement include:

Real time verbatim transcription;

Certified electronic transcripts and indices of the proceedings;

Video recording of the proceedings (as requested on a case by case basis);

Conference room or other appropriate facility in which to conduct a proceeding; and

Video teleconferencing of proceedings (as requested on a case by case basis).

1.3.1 Court Reporting. The Contractor shall provide a registered professional reporter (RPR) with the

National Court Reporters Association (NCRA), Hawaii Board of Certified Shorthand Reporters for verbatim transcription court reporting of depositions conducted by the Government during the period of performance identified in paragraph 1.4, Period of Performance for approximately 15 depositions. The

Contractor shall schedule court reporter(s) for the deposition(s) at a location described in paragraph 1.3.6, Location.

1.3.2 Transcripts. The Contractor shall provide certified electronic, and video transcripts, as necessary, and indices of the proceedings within the timeframes and formats specified by the Government. The

Contractor shall ensure quality control of such transcripts for accuracy and timeliness.

1.3.3 Video Recording. For some depositions, the Contractor shall provide a qualified videographer at a time specified by the Government. The Contractor shall provide facilities and equipment that would allow depositions and legal proceedings to be recorded by video. In such instances, the Contractor’s end products would be a video and a verbatim transcript. The Contractor shall demonstrate the specific capability to identify and schedule a videographer for proceedings to be at a location described in paragraph 1.3.6, Location.

1.3.4 Videoconferencing. The Contractor shall provide facilities and equipment that would allow depositions and legal proceedings to be transcribed through videoconferencing, and for simultaneous participation for up to four (4) locations. The equipment should be compatible with standard video conferencing equipment as well as Internet video conferencing using computer programs such as

Microsoft NetMeeting™, GoToMeeting, Webex or Skype for Business.

1.3.5 Conference Room / Facility. The Contractor shall provide a room or an appropriate facility in which to conduct legal proceeding to accommodate 4 or more people for the deposition during the period of performance identified in paragraph 1.4, Period of Performance. The facility must include a conference room table, sufficient seating for the proceeding, speaker phone, and appropriate atmosphere and acoustics for a legal proceeding.

1.3.6 Location. The Contractor shall provide a conference room for proceedings within 10 miles of Fort Shafter, Hawaii.

1.3.7 Equipment. The Contractor shall provide all equipment, including hardware and software, necessary for the verbatim transcription, unless otherwise specified.

1.4 Period of Performance. January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020.

1.5 Deliverables. The following services must be made available under the contract:

1.5.1 Transcript. Pricing will be based on the actual number of pages in the electronic copy of the transcript only and will not include exhibits, index pages, or certification page. Each transcript shall contain:

Any and all exhibits offered during the deposition or court proceeding unless otherwise indicated at time of performance of work;

An electronic version, provided via e-mail or CD/ROM medium as stipulated in the delivery order, of the transcript in software compatible with either Microsoft Word™ or Adobe™ (PDF);

A condensed or “mini transcript,” via e-mail or CD/ROM medium as stipulated in the delivery order, in a format compatible with either Microsoft Word™ or Adobe™ (PDF); and

An electronically searchable index or compendium of the proceeding in a format compatible with either Microsoft Word™ or Adobe™ (PDF).

1.5.2 Transcript Delivery. The Contractor shall provide transcripts to the point of contact based on a routine, priority, or expedited basis.

Routine request. The Contractor shall provide transcripts within ten (10) business days of the close of the proceeding.

Priority requests. The Contractor shall provide transcripts within five (5) business days of the close of the proceeding.

Expedited requests. The Contractor shall provide transcripts within one (1) business day of the close of the proceeding.

1.5.3 Video recording. If the proceeding was video-recorded, an electronic video recording of the proceeding shall be delivered in DVD format as specified by the Government. A time and date counter shall be imprinted continuously throughout the recording. Unless otherwise directed, a verbatim transcript, in the format set forth in paragraph 1.5.1 also shall be delivered for the video-recorded proceeding.

1.5.4 Late Delivery Fees. Late delivery feels will be deducted as follows:

Service Description Late Fee

Routine

Requests

Transcripts/materials not received by 5:00 p.m., Hawaii

Standard Time (HST) on the 10th business day after the close of the proceeding

$100.00

Priority Requests

Transcripts/materials not received by 5:00 p.m. HST on the 5th business day after the close of the proceeding $200.00

Expedited Requests

Transcripts/materials not received by 5:00 p.m. HST on the 1st business day after the close of the proceeding $300.00

Late delivery fees will be deducted from the total invoice for the assigned deposition.

1.5.5 Exhibit Delivery. The Contractor shall provide an electronic scanned copy of the exhibits used in a deposition to the point of contact within 2 days of the deposition.

1.5.6 Late Cancellation Fee. In the event a court reporter is ordered for a deposition and subsequently the proceeding is cancelled, the Government will notify the Contractor of such cancellation twenty-four

(24) hours prior to the scheduled deposition. In the event a scheduled deposition is cancelled less than twenty-four (24) hours before the start of a deposition, the Government will pay the appearance fee.

1.5.7 Appearance Fee. Appearance fee for a hearing or deposition.

1.5.8 Review and Sign. The Contractor shall provide a location for the deponent to review and sign the transcript if the deponent requests the opportunity to read and sign.

1.6 General Information

1.6.1 Quality Control. The Contractor shall develop and maintain an effective quality control program to ensure services are performed in accordance with this PWS. The Contractor shall develop and implement procedures to identify, prevent, and ensure non-recurrence of defective services. The

Contractor’s quality control program is the means by which the Contractor complies with the requirements of the contract.

1.6.2 Type of Contract. The government will award a service contract under the fixed rates herein established with the quantities of work to be determined in the future in accordance with the contract.

1.7 Government Furnished Resources and Information. The Government will provide the following under the contract:

a. Date and time of the performance.

b. Transcript delivery time and format.

c. Any special handling required for the transcript or any portion thereof as described in paragraph

1.8 below.

1.8 Requirements for handling Sensitive and/or Proprietary Information. The contractor shall be required to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

1 All reference to time (i.e., am or pm) shall be understood to be Hawaii Standard Time (HST) in which the work is scheduled to be performed.

PART 2

DEFINITIONS & ACRONYMS

2. DEFINITIONS AND ACRONYMS.

2.1. DEFINITIONS

2.1.1. CONTRACTOR. A supplier or vendor awarded a contract to provide specific supplies or service to the Government. The term used in this contract refers to the prime Contractor.

2.1.2. CONTRACTING OFFICER. A person with authority to enter into, administer, and or terminate contracts, and make related determinations and findings on behalf of the government. Note: The only individual who can legally bind the government.

2.1.4. DEFECTIVE SERVICE. A service output that does not meet the standard of performance associated with the Performance Work Statement.

2.1.5. DELIVERABLE. Anything that can be physically delivered, but may include non-manufactured things such as meeting minutes or reports.

2.2. ACRONYMS.

ACOR Alternate Contracting Officer's Representative

AFARS Army Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement

AR Army Regulation

CCE Contracting Center of Excellence

CFR Code of Federal Regulations

CONUS Continental United States (excludes Alaska and Hawaii)

COR Contracting Officer Representative

COTR Contracting Officer's Technical Representative

COTS Commercial-Off-the-Shelf

DA Department of the Army

DD250 Department of Defense Form 250 (Receiving Report)

DD254 Department of Defense Contract Security Requirement List

DFARS Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement

DMDC Defense Manpower Data Center

DOD Department of Defense

FAR Federal Acquisition Regulation

HIPAA Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996

KO Contracting Officer

OCI Organizational Conflict of Interest

OCONUS Outside Continental United States (includes Alaska and Hawaii)

ODC Other Direct Costs

POC Point of Contact

PRS Performance Requirements Summary

PWS Performance Work Statement

QA Quality Assurance

QAP Quality Assurance Program

QASP Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan

QC Quality Control

QCP Quality Control Program

TE Technical Exhibit

PART 3

CONTRACTOR MANPOWER REPORTING (CMR)

Contractor Manpower Reporting. The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower &

Reserve Affairs) operates and maintains a secure Army data collection site where the contractor will report ALL contractor manpower (including subcontractor manpower) required for performance of this contract. The contractor is required to completely fill in all the information in the format using the following web address “https://ecmra.mil.”

The required information includes:

1) Contracting Office, Contracting Officer, Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative;

2) Contract number, including task and delivery order number;

3) Beginning and ending dates covered by reporting period;

4) Contractor name, address, phone number, e-mail address, identity of contractor employee entering data;

5) Estimated direct labor hours (including sub-contractor);

6) Estimated direct labor dollars paid this reporting period (including sub-contractor);

7) Total payments (including subcontractor);

8) Predominant Federal Service Code (FSC) reflecting services provided by contractor (and separate predominant FSC for each sub-contractor if different);

9) Organizational title associated with the Unit Identification Code (UIC) for the Army Requiring

Activity (the Army Requiring Activity is responsible for providing the contractor with its UIC for the purposes of reporting this information);

10) Locations where contractor and sub-contractors perform the work (specified by zip code in the

United States and nearest City, Country, when in an overseas location, using standardized nomenclature provided on website);

11) Presence of deployment or contingency contract language, and,

12) Number of contractor and sub-contractor employees deployed in theater this reporting period

(by country).

As part of its submission, the contractor will also provide the estimated total cost (if any) incurred to comply with this reporting requirement. Reporting period will be the period of performance not to exceed

12 months ending September 30 of each government fiscal year and must be reported by 31 October of each calendar year.

PART 4

ANTI-TERRORISM / OPERATIONS SECURITY (AT/OPSEC)

Access to Government Information Systems. All contractor employees with access to a government info system must be registered in the Army Training Certification Tracking System (ATCTS) at commencement of services, and must successfully complete the DOD Information Assurance Awareness prior to access to the information systems and then annually thereafter in accordance with personnel security standards listed in AR 25-2 (Information Assurance), an appropriate background investigation will be conducted prior to accessing the government information systems

Pre-Screen Candidates using E-Verify Program. The Contractor must pre-screen Candidates using the

E-verify Program (http://www.uscis.gov/e-verify) website to meet the established employment eligibility requirements. The Vendor must ensure that the Candidate has two valid forms of Government issued identification prior to enrollment to ensure the correct information is entered into the E-verify system. An initial list of verified/eligible Candidates must be provided to the COR no later than 3 business days after the initial contract award.

TECHNICAL EXHIBIT 1

Performance Requirements Summary

The contractor service requirements are summarized into performance objectives that relate directly to mission essential items. The performance threshold briefly describes the minimum acceptable levels of service required for each requirement. These thresholds are critical to mission success.

Performance Objective Performance

Standard

Acceptable Quality

Level

Method of

Surveillance

The contractor shall provide court reporting services and electronic copies of transcript of deposition conducted by the

Government between approximately 1 January

2020 and 31 December 2020 for approximately 15 witnesses.

The contractor shall provide timely and accurate transcripts and/or video recordings consistent with the Federal

Rules of Civil Procedure.

Zero deviation from standard

100%

Inspection