SOLICITATION NOTICE
R -- Legal Services
- Notice Date
- 2/10/2014
- Notice Type
- Presolicitation
- NAICS
- 541110
— Offices of Lawyers
- Contracting Office
- Office of HQ PS (HQ)U.S. Department of EnergyOffice of Headquarters Procurement ServicesMA-641000 Independence Ave., S.W.WashingtonDC20585US
- ZIP Code
- 00000
- Solicitation Number
- DE-SOL-0006553
- Response Due
- 3/10/2014
- Archive Date
- 4/9/2014
- Point of Contact
- Karin M. Denburg
- E-Mail Address
-
karin.denburg@hq.doe.gov
(karin.denburg@hq.doe.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- NOTICE TYPE: Sources Sought Synopsis SUBJECT: Professional legal advice and assistance in labor, employment, and pension/benefits law for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) SYNOPSIS: This announcement serves as a Sources Sought synopsis issued for the purpose of market research in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 10. This Sources Sought is issued solely for information and planning purposes and does not constitute a solicitation, nor is this notice a request for proposals and/or quotation. DOE is issuing this Sources Sought synopsis to identify law firms having an interest in providing professional legal advice and assistance to DOE?s Office of General Counsel. Specifically, the contractor will provide the DOE Office of General Counsel with frequent, prompt, and often real-time: (1) professional legal advice and assistance in highly specialized matters involving pensions and employee benefits, labor and employment law (including but not limited to labor standards, labor relations, and employment discrimination law), related procurement and government contracting, statutory and regulatory analysis, and litigation, as more fully described below; (2) oral and written analysis, advice, and recommendations, including memoranda, opinion letters, e-mail analyses, and legal briefs on issues of concern to DOE; (3) upon request, attendance at meetings with DOE officials and staff on an urgent basis in Washington, D.C. and at DOE sites and financial assistance projects around the country; (4) specialized professional legal advice and assistance on very complex matters relating to: contractor pension and other benefit plans (including multiple and multi-employer/ pension plans, and qualified and non-qualified plans which may contain several billion dollars in assets), such complex matters to include complex discrimination testing, pension plan spin-offs and transfers, pension plan terminations, withdrawal liabilities, and withdrawal-substitution transactions, as well as experience in pension and benefits law in the collective bargaining setting; and other pension and benefit issues, including regarding severance and other benefits, that arise out of the changing operations of DOE and its procurement process. The contractor will provide in-depth legal advice and assistance in issues relating to compliance of contractor pension and other benefit plans with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Internal Revenue Code, Pension Protection Act of 2006, the Worker, Retiree, and Employer Recovery Act of 2008, and Department of Labor regulations and any other applicable law, including expertise in drafting, review and modification (especially in the context of large-scale, often unprecedented transactions) of qualified and non-qualified single and multiple employer defined benefit pension and other benefit plans, and multiemployer pension and other benefit plans. The contractor will also provide in-depth legal advice and assistance with the Cost Accounting Standards 412 and 413, including segment closings and the measurement, allocation, and assignment of contractor pension costs; (5) specialized professional legal advice and assistance on large-scale workforce restructuring actions such as voluntary self-select and involuntary employee separation programs (including under Section 3161 of the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 1993, 42 U.S.C. section 72741, and Executive Order 11246, as amended), including statutes, regulations, and executive orders relating to equal employment opportunity (EEO), such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and Title VII; the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act and its implementing regulations. Contractor will be required to help to develop and interpret adverse impact analyses, a statistical tool used by employers during reductions-in-force to assess possible impact on protected EEO classifications; (6) specialized professional legal advice and assistance in the area of private sector labor relations, including in the development and interpretation of collective bargaining agreements including pre-hire/project labor agreements on large-scale construction projects on federal or federally assisted projects, such labor relations issues to include, but are not limited to, union strikes, jurisdictional disputes/conflicting claims to perform work, hiring hall disputes, double-breasted operations, union signatory clauses, common situs picketing, and antitrust matters; (7) specialized professional legal advice and assistance in the analysis and practical application of labor standards laws and regulations, in particular the Davis-Bacon Act (including under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 and Section 1804 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended), and the Service Contract Act (including as applied to union-represented workforces); (8) specialized professional legal advice and assistance in labor-related legal issues surrounding the government procurement and contracting process, including under management and operating contracts and cost-reimbursement contracts; (9) specialized professional legal advice and assistance on interpreting the labor, employment, and pension provisions of the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC) Privatization Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2297h-8; (10) specialized professional legal advice and assistance on labor, employment, and safety requirements applicable to federal contractors and related claims filed with regulatory agencies and courts; (11) specialized professional legal advice and assistance on other labor and employment related laws and regulations, including but not limited to, Family Medical Leave Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act; and (12) specialized professional legal advice and assistance on the FAR and Department of Energy Acquisition Regulation (DEAR) relating to all of the above subject areas. The vendor must have the capability and resources to provide prompt (frequently real-time) expertise, analysis and guidance in urgent and high-priority situations, on issues that are of critical importance to DOE. These services must be provided at a reasonable price, with a demonstrated ability to provide the services in a cost-efficient manner. For the purpose of this acquisition, the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes are as follows: NAICS CodeNAICS DescriptionSize Standards in millions of dollars Size Standards in number of employees 541110Offices of Lawyers$10.0 DOE is preferably seeking vendors who have a GSA Schedule. However, vendors who do not have a GSA Schedule are encouraged to submit a capability statement. DOE is looking to issue a Time and Materials (T/M) type of contract for this requirement. Although this Source Sought synopsis does not only apply to small business concerns, vendors that are socioeconomic concerns (e.g., 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Business, Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone), Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business, Woman-Owned Small Business (WOSB)) are encouraged to respond to this notice. THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AT THIS TIME. Interested vendors shall submit a tailored capability statement that specifically demonstrates the vendor?s expertise in providing these professional legal services in a timely manner for a large organization with locations throughout the U.S., at a reasonable price and with a demonstrated ability to provide the services in a cost efficient manner. The capability statement shall demonstrate that the vendor has a clear understanding of all tasks specified. Responding entities are requested to submit a capability statement that: (1) identifies the prospective vendor (business name, business size and/or socioeconomic program status (e.g., 8(a), HUBZone, etc.), point of contact (including email address), telephone number, and business organization of the proposing entity (e.g., Limited Liability Corporation, Limited Liability Partnership); (2) describes the prospective vendor?s capabilities, relevant experience and resources to perform a contract of the size and complexity of which is the subject of this requirement (we note that, from January 2013 to December 2013, the current contractor averaged approximately 14 hours of work per month, ranging from under 5 hours to up to 35 hours per month); (3) includes potential subcontractors and information relative to the prospective subcontractor?s experience and capabilities to provide services consistent with the aforementioned tasks; (4) provides representative hourly rates for attorneys who would perform the tasks described above; and (5) specifically demonstrates the vendor?s ability to provide these legal services in a cost-efficient manner Interested parties are requested to submit a capability statement, limited to no more than 20 pages, no later than 03/10/2014 at 4:00 P.M. EST. This request for capability statement does not constitute a request for proposals and/or quotes. Submission of any information in response to the market survey is purely voluntary. The government assumes no financial responsibility for any costs incurred. This announcement is for information and planning purposes only and is not to be construed as a commitment by the government, implied or otherwise, to issue a solicitation or award a contract. In order for DOE to receive a vendor response through the Strategic Integrated Procurement Enterprise System (STRIPES), all current and potential acquisition and financial assistance firms must be registered at the Compusearch FedConnect vendor portal, which is located at https://www.fedconnect.net. To get more information about FedConnect and to register your company, open your Internet browser and go to https://www.fedconnect.net. To view the synopsis, click on ?Search Public Opportunities? and search for the synopsis by using number DE-SOL-0006553. Instructions on how to submit your business?s response electronically can be found in the help document, which is located under the ?Have questions? link on the FedConnect page. If there are any technical difficulties with using FedConnect, please contact the FedConnect help desk at 1-800-899-6665. All questions or suggestions regarding this Sources Sought synopsis shall be submitted through FedConnect. Please note that telephone or email inquiries regarding this notice will not receive responses.
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