West LegalEdcenter subscriptions

The NRC intends to enter into a sole-source purchase order with West Publishing Corporation for 35 licenses to West LegalEdcenter, an online continuing legal education (CLE) subscription service, for a one-year base period with four (4) one-year option periods. The NRC requires online continuing legal education (CLE) programs for agency attorneys. Most NRC attorneys practice at the NRC Headquarters in the National Capital Region but are licensed in the various several states. As a condition of employment, NRC attorneys are required to maintain an active license in a state, district, or territory. Depending on their individual state bar requirements, attorneys are generally required to complete a specific number of CLE courses or hours in order to maintain their active status. At the same time, federal agencies are being required to reduce their training expenditures. The NRC therefore intends to procure online CLE training, to enable NRC attorneys to accomplish their CLE requirements at dates and times that are the most beneficial for the agency while eliminating the travel and other costs associated with traditional classroom training. To satisfy this requirement, the NRC intends to procure 35 user licenses to West LegalEdCenter. West LegalEdCenter is a CLE library of more than 7,000 programs and 17,000 hours of CLE, covering every area of practice, most of which is offered in an on-demand format and can be accessed 24 hours per day, 7 days a week from any electronic device with an internet connection. The anticipated period of performance for this contract will be one year, from February 1, 2014 through January 31, 2015, with four additional one-year option periods. West LegalEdCenter is the only online CLE subscription service that meets all of the NRC's needs. While most NRC attorneys practice at the NRC's Headquarters campus in Rockville, Maryland, most are not Maryland attorneys, but are instead members of the state bars of the various states. This fact, unique to federal agencies, requires compatibility with state bar requirements in all of the US states and territories. The NRC needs the CLE training to be offered online and available at dates and times that do not conflict with the responsibilities of the agency attorneys to accomplish the agency mission. The NRC also needs a wide range of CLE training courses to meet the diversity of specialized legal areas of agency attorneys. West LegalEdCenter offers most of its content in an on-demand format that can be accessed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from any electronic device with an internet connection. It also offers the most current and comprehensive library of CLE available anywhere, meeting the needs of all of the NRC's attorneys with more than 7,000 programs and 20,000 hours of CLE credit from over 50 content providers, including over 150 live programs or "webinars" each month. No other source of online CLE course provides the diversity of courses, utilizing an extensive array of leading local, state, and national bar associations, necessary to meet the needs of all of the NRC's attorneys in both content and in satisfying the CLE requirements of all of their individual state bar associations. West LegalEdCenter also enables the NRC attorneys to electronically track their individual CLE credits and access their Certificates of Completion. In addition to offering a comprehensive list of content providers needed by NRC attorneys, such as the American Bar Association, Energy and Mineral Law Foundation, and Federal Publication Seminars, West LegalEdCenter is the only source of courses from many CLE providers such as the American Judicature Society, Andrews Publications, Clarion Legal, Federal Publications Seminars, Georgetown University Law Center, International Bar Association, Legal Talk Network, Practice Development Counsel, Duke University Law School and Boston Bar Association. There are many CLE courses that NRC attorneys cannot get through any other source, such as from the International Bar Association, which is the world's leading organization of international legal practitioners and bar association. West LegalEdCenter also provides several other benefits or enhancements unavailable from any other source, such as its award-winning CLE podcasts (Legal Talk Network) covering a wide range of topics and practice areas, and its series of interactive "Beyond the Bar" workshops, which offer intensive, yet practical programs. West LegalEdcenter, through an exclusive arrangement with its sister company "Westlaw," is the only web-based CLE service that links to documents on Westlaw that are cited in program materials and allows for more in-depth legal research. The NRC currently has access to Westlaw, a premier online legal research service that provides proprietary access to more than 40,000 database services. With Westlaw access, the status of case law and statutory documents cited in West LegalEdcenter can be easily verified using the KeyCite citation research service. No other online CLE provider can meet all of the needs of the NRC's attorneys, and no other source has such a comprehensive offering for continuing professional development that will enhance the ability of the Office of the General Counsel to carry out the agency's mission and meet the CLE requirements of the several individual state bar associations. The authority for this action is FAR 13.106-1(2)(b), only one source reasonably available.