R -- Private Counsel - Northern District of Illinois

NOTE: This procurement is open ONLY to LAW FIRMS or SOLO practitioners of LAW licensed to practice law in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago). As a result of P.L. 104-134, which amended the Federal Debt Recovery Act, the Department of Justice intends to award contracts to private practitioners of law for debt collection services on behalf of the United States in the following federal judicial district: Northern District of Illinois. The contractors will be required to pursue debt collection activities which parallel existing industry procedures that have proven to be effective and efficient; to interact with government representatives at defined stages of the collection process (i.e., settlement, compromise, etc.); to input relevant case data in a computer base maintained by the government. Payment will be made by a combination of contingency fees and firm, fixed prices. Law firms or solo practitioners who respond to this solicitation MUST be regularly engaged in the private practice of LAW within the Northern District of Illinois. - Regularly engaged in the private practice of law is construed to mean that at least 20% of the debt collection cases handled by the offeror arise in the Northern District of Illinois. NOTE: The Act provides that the Department may contract ONLY with law firms or solo practitioners of law since contractors must represent the United States in court. The government anticipates awarding up to four contracts (or more or less at the discretion of the government). The period of performance for each contract will be one base year plus up to six optional years.The solicitation will be available about August 16, 2006 and will be distributed solely through the General Service Administration's Electronic Posting System - FedBizOpps. The website is www.fedbizopps.gov (hard copies of the solicitation will not be available). FedBizOpps provides downloading instructions. All future information about this acquisition, including solicitation amendments, will be distributed solely through FedBizOpps. Interested parties are responsible to monitor this site to ensure that they have the most up-to-date information about this acquisition.