Legal Services for FHFA's 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) intends to award a sole source contract to the Groom Law Group, Chartered (Groom), 1701 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 1200, Washington, DC 20006-5811 under the authority of "Only One Responsible Source. The anticipated period of performance is for a base period of one year with one (1) one-year option. Background: On May 19, 2016, purchase order FHF-16-P-0019 was competitively awarded to Groom to provide advice, counsel, and representation related to FHFA's 401(k) Retirement Savings Plan (401(k) Plan) and to provide advice and counsel to FHFA on establishing an internal infrastructure to administer its 401(k) Plan. It was clear from the competition that Groom was the only law firm with significant experience providing advice to another federal agency on its 401(k) Plan, and the firm is well known for its expertise in retirement benefits plans. The Purchase Order was awarded for a one-year base period with one option year. On May 23, 2018, Groom was awarded Purchase Order 95314318P0005FHF to continue providing legal services related to FHFA's establishment of a 401(k) Oversight Committee and advising FHFA on the administration of its 401(k) Plan. That Purchase Order was also awarded for a one-year base period with one option year. On May 23, 2020, Groom was awarded Purchase Order 95314320P0012 for a one-year base period with one option year to continue advice and counsel related to the Committee's chartered responsibility for administering the Agency's 401(k) Plan. During the periods of performance of the respective Purchase Orders and in coordination with FHFA's Office of General Counsel, Groom advised FHFA on all aspects of establishing an agency 401(k) Oversight Committee to administer the Plan and has been advising the established Committee on Plan governance and administration issues. FHFA requires continued advice and counsel related to the Committee's chartered fiduciary responsibility for administering the Agency's 401(k) Plan. Groom is the only law firm with the requisite knowledge and expertise that can continue providing advice, counsel and representation on pending and continuing matters for FHFA and is the only outside law firm that is intimately familiar with FHFA's Plan documents and represents FHFA on pending matters. Because this new contract is a continuation of work currently being performed by Groom, no other law firm has the specialized experience to perform this work in the timeframe required. Refer to the Statement of Objectives (Attachment A) for further details. This action will result in a Time and Materials type contract. The applicable NAICS is 541110 - Office of Lawyers and there are no-set-asides identified for this procurement. This notice is neither a request for quotations nor a solicitation of offers. No formal solicitation package is available. Interested sources may identify their interest and capability to respond to the requirement and should furnish detailed data concerning their capabilities to provide the services sought including pricing data and technical data sufficient to determine that a comparable source to the Government is available. The Government shall be the sole source of determining an offeror's ability to meet all requirements. The Government will consider all expressions of interest received prior to the close of this synopsis. A determination by the Government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. Information received will be considered solely for determining whether to conduct a competitive procurement. Only written responses sent via electronic mail to contact@example.gov will be accepted. The responses shall be received by no later than the response date and time indicated on this Special Notice. The Government will not be responsible for any costs in the preparation of responses to this announcement.