R -- LITIGATION TRAINING SERVICES

THE PURPOSE OF THIS IS TO GAIN INFORMATION ON LITIGATION TRAINING SERVICES AVAILABLE. NO SOLICITATION DOCUMENT AVAILABLE 1. On behalf of the Office of the General Counsel of the Navy, the Fleet Industrial Supply Office has a requirement for the development of litigation training services. This service is intended to provide high quality, Continuous Learning Education CLE eligible, litigation skills and litigation ethics training to attorneys in the Navy Office of the General Counsel. Task orders describing the specific training to be provided will be issued. The training included in this contract shall include principally live training, however, the development and preparation of high quality online training materials will also be required. The anticipated contract is expected to commence in July 2004, for one base year and 3 one-year option periods. The Government is anticipating a - best value, source selection plan and oral presentations leading to the award of an indefinite quantity type, firm-fixed priced type contract. 2. The attorneys who will receive this training will be at different levels of litigation experience and skills and are responsible for representing the Navy in both administrative forums such as the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, Merit Systems Protection Board, and EEOC as well as in federal court assisting DOJ attorneys. The Navy Office of the General Counsel handles cases in a wide variety of areas and forums including, but not limited to, government contracts at the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, Court of Federal Claims, General Accounting Office and Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, civil False Claims Act cases in the Federal District Courts, civilian personnel cases at the Merit Systems Protection Board and in Federal Courts, EEO discrimination cases in Federal District Court and before the EEOC, Class Actions in federal courts, and environmental cases in Federal and State courts. The training and training materials to be provided under this contract shall cover all aspects of case preparation, legal writing, discovery, electronic discovery, trial, negotiations and settlement, and appeals from both an offensive and defensive standpoint and should be heavily geared towards the practical as opposed to the theoretical. The ethical obligations facing government attorneys in litigation should be covered and stressed in all training. The training materials for non-attorneys may cover trial practice, discovery obligations, the duty of confidentiality, depositions and trial testimony, and the ethical obligations of counsel for the government and is designed to make certain that clients involved in litigation understand both the litigation process and their role in that process. 3. The Contractor shall have the personnel, organization, experience, and administrative control necessary to ensure that the services performed under this contract meet all of the requirements specified in this contract. The Contractor shall assure that all training provided under this contract is accurate, complete, and suitably dynamic so that information is presented to Navy OGC attorneys in the most useful manner possible. 4. The contractor will provide equipment, personnel and materials to provide one-day litigation training seminars to Department of the Navy, Office of the General Counsel personnel. It is anticipated that such training may be conducted in any one more of the following locations: Washington, D.C.; Jacksonville, Florida; San Diego, California; Patuxent River, Maryland; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Honolulu, Hawaii; Newport, Rhode Island; Norfolk, Virginia; and Seattle, Washington. Locations may, be added or deleted from this list. These one-day seminars will cover those litigation skills, location by activity and facility to be issued under this contract as a task order. The Contractor will, suggest topics to be covered by this training and will prepare and present the one day seminar. It is anticipated that the contractor will present the same seminar in each location identified above during the course of contract performance. When the seminar has been presented in all locations, the contractor may be tasked to develop one-day litigation training seminars covering new topics to be held at the same locations as the original seminars. It is anticipated that there will be between 10 and 30 attendees at each seminar location. In addition, the contractor may be required to conduct a litigation seminar for approximately 100-125 Office of the General Counsel attorneys. The content and presentation of all seminars shall be of the highest professional quality and should include lectures, group discussions, role-playing simulations, and such other techniques as the contractor determines will most effectively present the material. 5. Training materials for seminars. The Contractor shall provide training materials in hard copy and computer readable format to all seminar attendees. The cost for these materials shall be included in the cost for the seminar. These materials shall be of extremely high quality, be relevant to the subjects covered at the seminar, and be useful to the attendees, including such things as how to guides, outlines, and samples as appropriate to the subject. All training materials used by the contractor must be approved in advance of any training. The Contractor shall submit to the Contracting Officer, all materials so that they are received 30 days prior to use in a training session. Review and comments shall be provided by the COR within 14 days. Resubmissions, if required, shall be made so that the materials are received by the COR at least four business days before the training session. All course materials must be consistent with federal policy, statutes, regulations and common law. 6. If the materials are not acceptable to the COR, the training class may be cancelled by the Government at no cost and without notice. The Contractor will provide the COR with one computer readable copy of the written materials. The Contractor understands that the written materials will become the property of the Department of the Navy. 7. At the end of each seminar, the contractor will provide to the attendees course evaluation forms to developed by the Contractor and approved by the COR. Within 30 days of the conclusion of the seminar the contractor will provide the COR with copies of the evaluation forms. The Contractor shall make appropriate changes to the seminars as agreed upon with the COR based on comments contained in the evaluation forms. 8. The Contractor shall be responsible for obtaining CLE credit for the seminar in all jurisdictions and shall submit student requests for CLE credit. 9. Advanced Seminars. The Contractor, as specified by the task order, shall present to the Navy Litigation Office, which consists of highly experienced litigating attorneys, seminars on specific litigation topics. These seminars will range in length from 1-3 hours and cover such topics as litigation ethics, electronic discovery, effective document discovery, deposition techniques, managing litigation, environmental litigation, class action litigation, handling complex litigation, etc. The contractor may, at any time, suggest topics to be covered in such seminars. These seminars may be made available to other Navy OGC Offices via a VTC link. The contractor shall develop and provide audiovisual and other materials as needed for these seminars as part of the cost for the seminar. The audiovisual materials shall be subject to the requirements set forth above. The Contractor shall be responsible for obtaining CLE credit for the seminar for those jurisdictions identified by the COR and shall subject student requests for CLE credit. 10. The Contractor shall develop and prepare Litigation Tools and Resources for use by Navy OGC Attorneys. These Tools and Resources will include one or more of the following: a. Litigation Manual for OGC attorneys. The manual shall describe the litigation process in federal courts and before administrative agencies before which OGC attorneys practice, such as the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) and the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) and shall contain a useful search function. The manual should contain sample documents that can be adopted for use by the attorneys in specific cases. The manual will be placed online in the Department of the Navy, Office of the General Counsel, internal website. The subjects and content of the online training and manual will cover areas specified in individual task orders. The Contractor will provide the COR with a detailed outline, a first draft, a second draft, and a final of the manual per deadlines to be identified in the task order. The contractor will be required to make such changes to the manual approved by the task order during review of the outline and drafts. The manual shall be updated as required by the task order. The Contractor may at any time suggest specific topics to be covered in any manual update. The manual will become the sole property of the Department of the Navy and will not be used by the contractor for any other purpose whatsoever. b. The Contractor shall develop a litigation guide to be provided to clients in litigation. The guide shall describe the litigation process and describe the client's role in the litigation process paying close attention to document retention, discovery obligations, pretrial assistance, depositions, and trial testimony. The guide shall be high quality, accurate and useful tool to train clients on their obligations in litigation. The Contractor will provide the COR with a detailed outline, a first draft, a second draft, and a final of the manual per deadlines to be identified in the task order. The contractor will make such changes to the manual as specified by the task order. The manual shall be updated as required by the task order. The Contractor may at any time suggest specific topics to be covered in any manual update. The litigation guide shall become the property of the Department of the Navy and may not be used by the Contractor for any other purpose whatsoever. c. Online litigation training. The Contractor shall develop online litigation training courses. These online courses may be for OGC attorneys, litigation support staff including paralegals and administrative personnel, and/or clients and shall address practical litigation skills, ethical obligations in litigation, in specific task orders. These online courses shall be high quality, contain useful information, and will become the property of the Department of the Navy and may not be used by the Contractor for any other purpose whatsoever. d. Other tasks. The Contractor shall develop, prepare and conduct such other training and develop and prepare such other materials in accordance specific to the task orders. The Contractor shall also consult with the COR providing ideas and recommendations for litigation training. 11. Personnel. Personnel assigned to this contract must be experienced in developing and conducting litigation training to experienced licensed attorneys. Each person assigned by the contractor to develop and conduct the training, must be a graduate of an accredited law school and licensed to practice law by any state or the District of Columbia and have at least 10 years of experience in the actual practice of law and 5 years of experience developing and conducting CLE accredited legal and litigation training. Reports: a. Training report: For each one day training session conducted, provide the COR with a report containing - an attendance sheet for the course for the am and pm sessions, identification of trainers for the session, a copy of all evaluations, any changes to the course as a result of evaluations, and any further training recommended on the subjects covered in the training. For each advanced seminar conducted, provide the COR with a report containing - an attendance sheet for the course, identification of trainer for the session, a copy of all evaluations, any further training recommended as a result of the seminar b. Task status reports On a monthly basis, provide a report identifying the status of all tasks ordered under the contract. The report should identify the work completed during the reporting period and work planned for the next reporting period.