School Board Agenda Item

On February 28, 2006, the Purchasing Department on behalf of the Department of Risk Management issued an RFP for Legal Services based upon the specifications provided by the department. The purpose of this RFP is to establish qualified firms to provide legal services in the areas of Personal Injury, Workers' Compensation and Appellate. Firms were asked to provide the experience and qualifications of the firm, the experience of the primary individual, their pricing proposal, and their small business/minority/women participation. Proposals were due on March 29, 2006.

The District notified 536 vendors online and received five (5) proposals for Workers' Compensation, and five (5) proposals for Personal Injury within the proposed timeframe (Attachment A). The proposals were received from 1) Abbey, Adams, Byelick, Kierman, Mueller & Lancaster, 2) Barr, Murman & Tonelle, 3) Broad and Cassel, 4) Hill, Ward & Henderson, 5) Joyner & Jordan-Holmes, P.A., and 6) The Law Offices of William C. Demas. The evaluation process included a committee of district level personnel (Attachment B). The evaluation consisted of two phases. During Phase I the committee met on April 3, 2006, and evaluated the proposals based on the RFP criteria (Attachment C). Prior to Phase I, Purchasing staff contacted references to assist the committee. The committee elected to hold oral presentations, Phase II. Phase II presentations were held on April 13 and April 17, 2006, after which each firm was again evaluated (Attachment D). The committee recommended various firms to be awarded this contract (Attachment E). The fee schedule by category for each firm recommended for award is provided (Attachment F). The category of Appellate is not recommended for award. The initial term of the contract shall be for a three-year period with an effective date of May 3, 2006.

As stated in OPPAGA report: “Efficient purchasing and warehousing requires that management processes be in place to ensure that supplies, equipment and services vital to the school’s education mission are purchased from a competitive source, in the right quantity, delivered timely to the correct location, and stored in a secure location. These criteria should be met for each purchase without sacrificing quality.”

The average yearly total cost of attorney fees for all district legal services is $749,293 based upon the expenses for the past three years. Legal activity does vary from year to year in amounts and among the various legal disciplines based upon circumstances at the time. The average expenses, paid for from operating budget dollars, have been paid for from budget dollars charged to the operation of the School Board. Legal costs incurred due to capital outlay matters including bond counsel, land use, real property, and construction litigation are charged to the appropriate projects in the capital outlay budget.

Contract Administration or evaluation is performed by the Project Manager (end user) and Purchasing Agent, who function as a team. Reviews are conducted face to face, typically quarterly, or by utilizing an online vendor performance report. Prior to soliciting a new contract, the Contract Administration team must first give consideration to the specifications and supporting data of the expiring contract.

SUBMITTED BY: Willie T. Campbell, CPPO, CPPB, General Manager of Procurement

Reviewed by Thomas Gonzalez, School Board Attorney

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Daniel J. Valdez Deputy Superintendent (813) 272-4164	Gretchen Saunders Chief Business Officer (813) 272-4270
5.04R
Hillsborough County Public Schools (Florida) * Mtg.#20060502_175 * Section E Item# 5.04R