The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”) is seeking sources that are interested in, and capable of, performing the work described in this Request For Information (RFI)/Sources Sought. This notice is issued solely for information and planning purposes (market research), and does not constitute a solicitation, or a promise of a solicitation issuance in the future. All information received in response to this notice that is marked “proprietary” will be handled accordingly. Responses to this notice will not be returned.

Responses to this notice are not Offers and cannot be accepted by the Government to form a binding contract. Responders are solely responsible for all expenses associated with responding to this notice. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service.

The information obtained from this notice will assist the Government, for market research purposes, in understanding the industry capabilities for providing these services necessary to implement the requirements described below.

SYNOPSIS:

The PBGC General Counsel advises PBGC’s Chief of Negotiations & Restructuring on concerns with protecting the interests of the agency and plan participants and beneficiaries pursuant to ERISA. The Office of the General Counsel relies on business processes in the Communications Center ("Center")  for their written and electronic communications within the agency and with all interested parties external to the agency.

Because PBGC has independent litigating authority, its attorneys regularly appear in courts nationwide on behalf of the corporation. Paper and electronic communications with those courts, adversaries, and other parties are an integral part of the agency's legal business processes. The Communications Center utilizes a generic scanning solution to capture all incoming and outgoing documents as TIF images and readable PDF files before being coded into a case management system. Documents are distributed to legal staff and other corporate personnel through e-mails generated automatically by an intranet server. As a result, most paper legal records in the Communications Center are now electronic in nature, and management and control of incoming electronic records are critical concerns of the agency.

The Center includes a centralized mail and filing operation and certain case tracking and docketing functions for the control of all legal documents and other correspondence, received from and sent to federal and state courts, other federal agencies, parties to PBGC litigation and other legal actions, and other PBGC departments. The Center is currently located at 445 12th Street NW, Washington, DC 20024-2101, and is accessible to the legal staff and other agency personnel. At the present time, the Center has 5 computer/printer workstations, two duplex scanners attached; and one high-speed printer/copiers.

The computer workstations feature software applications appropriate to the business process in the Center, including Microsoft Office; Internet Explorer; Legal Edge for Windows two case management systems; Quick View Plus; and Adobe. The scanners presently are run by Kofax software.

The Center currently houses original copies of all settlements, trusteeship documents, mortgage loans, security documents, confidentiality items, asset purchase and letter agreements. Additional boxes of closed files are archived monthly at a facility off-site and remain accessible to staff on an as-needed basis.

TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS:

The PBGC seeks a qualified, experienced, and highly competent Contractor to operate and manage the Center. The Contractor shall provide personnel who have the technical skills and expertise necessary and sufficient to meet the demands of records management and document controls in a highly computerized environment; to provide the services required to support an effectively paperless environment; to support other related agency initiatives such as knowledge management using similar processes and systems, to manage and support discovery and other litigation-related activities; and to assist in additional projects related to similar corporate and legal activities and administrative processes.

RFI/SOURCES SOUGHT; RESPONSE SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:

If your company has the potential capacity to perform these services, please provide a capability statement (Not to exceed 10 pages) which includes the following information:

1) Company name, address, point of contact (name, phone number, email address), website URL, UEI Number, and GSA Schedule or GWAC contract number, if applicable; and

2) Tailored capability statements addressing the particulars of this effort by responding to the Questions below (Note: Questions are also attached in PDF Format for ease of reference), with appropriate documentation/narrative supporting claims of organizational and staff capability.

3) Please include any other comments, information and/or recommendations to assist PBGC in its approach to acquiring the services and the manner in which requirements are described in the Draft Statement of Work ("SOW") attached hereto.

PBGC will evaluate market information to ascertain potential market capacity to:

1) Provide services consistent in scope and scale with those described in this notice and;

2) Secure human capital and technical resources required to successfully perform similar requirements.

No telephone inquiries will be accepted.

RFI QUESTIONS

1. Does the vendor have experience with software applications appropriate to business processes in a large (approximately 100+ attorneys) law office mail and file room, including Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, Legal Edge for Windows, Kofax, and case management systems such as Quick View Plus, TeamConnect, and Adobe, among others?  If yes, how many years?  If yes, please describe.
2. Does the vendor have experience in legal records management and document control, including managing large volume bankruptcy, federal district, and appellate court cases, as well as regulatory investigative legal matters?  If yes, how many years?  If yes, please describe.
3. Does the vendor have primary experience in receipt, docketing, distribution, archiving and other disposition of hard copy and electronic communications for a large (approximately 100+ attorneys) law office mail and file room?  If yes, please describe.
4. Does the vendor have expertise with handling, managing, securing and preserving valuable legal instruments, including high dollar letters of credits, financial instruments including bonds, stock certificates, and original copies of settlement agreements, among other confidential documents?  If yes, how many years?  If yes, please describe.
5. Does the vendor have experience managing and controlling legal documentation, including hard copy and electronic litigation documents that serve as a primary source of information supporting litigation in federal district courts, federal appellate courts, federal bankruptcy courts, and state courts, as well as and documents supporting requests for advice and opinions under Title IV of ERISA, its intersection with bankruptcy law, and other typical governmental legal matters, including contracting and employment law?  If yes, how many years?  If yes, please describe.
6. What is the approximate maximum number of electronic documents, including legal documents filed in court proceedings, your company has handled/processed in one month for the past 12 months?
7.  Does the vendor have a working knowledge of and experience with general legal processes and documentation sufficient to recognize time-sensitive matters and understand their context in legal proceedings to associate documents with particular matters and masters?  If yes, please describe the knowledge and experience.
8. Does the vendor have expertise in handling sensitive information, confidential documents and privileged communications so that such information is handled and processed in accordance with all applicable federal statutes, rules and regulations?  If yes, please describe.