Financial Legal Counsel

Orange County, Florida is seeking Financial Legal Counsel through a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP #Y25-133-KS) for three distinct legal counsel roles: SEC Disclosure Counsel, Sales Tax and Utilities Revenue Bond Counsel, and Special Services Bond Counsel. The procurement is being conducted electronically through the OpenGov e-Procurement Platform, with sealed proposals due by 4:00 PM EST on March 11, 2025. Qualified law firms can propose services for one, two, or all three counsel roles, with the County reserving the right to make multiple awards. The initial contract term is three years, with potential extensions for two additional one-year periods, totaling a maximum of five years. Evaluation criteria will comprehensively assess proposers based on staff qualifications, technical approach, M/WBE utilization, location, and fee proposal, with a total possible score of 100 points and up to 20 bonus points available. The fee structure includes a tiered pricing model calculated per $1,000 of bond value, with additional hourly rates for services unrelated to bond issuances.

The solicitation includes provisions for bonus points for hiring dislocated workers and utilizing registered Service-Disabled Veteran (SDV) business enterprises, which may provide competitive advantages to certain respondents. Firms will be reimbursed for specific expenses such as copying, postage, and extraordinary travel at predetermined rates. While no incumbent vendors are explicitly mentioned, the procurement allows for significant flexibility in vendor selection across multiple legal counsel specialties. Technical support for the OpenGov platform is available Monday through Friday from 8am to 8pm EST, with multiple contact methods including chat, email, and phone. Respondents must submit documents in common file formats (Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or PDF) with scanned documents requiring a minimum 150 dpi resolution. Though specific budget ranges are not detailed, the multi-year contract and tiered fee structure suggest potential significant financial opportunities for selected legal counsel firms.