TRANSMITTAL LETTER FOR BOARD MEETING OF OCTOBER 20, 2022
COMMITTEE ON PROCUREMENT
Mr. Brian A. Perkovich, Executive Director
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Issue purchase order and enter into an agreement for Contract 22-RFP-11, Professional Legal Services for Bankruptcy and Collection Matters for a three-year period, with the law firm of Horwood Marcus & Berk Chartered, a/k/a HMB Legal Counsel, in an amount not to exceed $75,000.00. Account 101-30000-612430, Requisition 1579421 (As Revised)
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Dear Sir:
Authorization is requested to issue a purchase order and enter into an agreement with the law firm of Horwood Marcus & Berk Chartered, a/k/a HMB Legal Counsel (“HMB”), to represent and counsel the District in connection with bankruptcy and collection matters in an amount not to exceed $75,000.00. This contract will be for a period of three years, commencing January 1, 2023, and ending December 31, 2025.
By way of background, the District has enacted its User Charge Ordinance (“UCO”), which authorizes the District to establish rates and assess charges against users based upon factors that influence the cost of treatment of industrial wastes and other wastes conveyed by them to the District’s sewer and wastewater treatment facilities, and its Sewage and Waste Control Ordinance (“SWCO”), which sets limits for various wastewater pollutants that a user’s discharged wastewater may contain and establishes an enforcement program when a user violates those limits. When a user fails to pay User Charges and related amounts owed to the District under the UCO and/or noncompliance enforcement charges assessed by the District pursuant to the SWCO, the District’s Law Department is called upon to assist in the collection of those delinquent charges.
Often times, users of the District’s facilities file for bankruptcy protection. Based on the complexity of bankruptcy laws, specifically as to the rights of a governmental entity as a creditor, the assistance of bankruptcy counsel has been needed over the years to protect the District’s rights as creditor relative to bankruptcy related proceedings, and to provide recommendations and assist the District in pursuing lien and mortgage foreclosure actions, wage garnishments, and other possible ancillary matters related to creditor issues.
On June 1, 2022, Request for Proposal 22-RFP-11, Professional Legal Services for Bankruptcy and Collection Matters, was publicly advertised. Seven (7) state, county and local bar associations and seventeen (17) vendors, including eleven (11) bankruptcy firms, were notified, and fourteen (14) vendors uploaded proposal documents. On June 24, 2022, the District received four (4) responsive proposals from the following vendors: Freeborn & Peters LLP, Valentine Austriaco & Bueschel, P.C., Shaw Legal Services, Ltd., and HMB.
The proposals were evaluated by staff from the Law, Finance, Monitoring and Research and Procurement and Materials Management Departments. The criteria for these evaluations were outlined in Request for Proposal 22-RFP-11 and included understanding the project, approach to the work, technical competence, personal effectiveness, cost of services, compliance with insurance requirements, and submission of all necessary licenses. Following the preliminary evaluation of the proposals, all proposers were invited to a finalist interview. Finalist interviews were held on August 4 and 10, 2022. A solicitation was sent to the finalists on August 24, 2022, for an unqualified “best and final” offer. The “best and final” offers were returned to the Director of Procurement and Materials Management by August 30, 2022.
Based on the evaluation of the proposals using the criteria described above and the pricing provided in the “best and final” offers, it is recommended that a contract be awarded to HMB to represent and counsel the District in connection with bankruptcy and collection matters. HMB is the District’s bankruptcy counsel under the current such contract that expires at the end of this year. It is a mid-sized firm located in Chicago, Illinois incorporated in 1984 that is comprised of approximately 60 attorneys and 40 support staff members, including a team of bankruptcy professionals. HMB’s bankruptcy team has significant experience in litigating bankruptcy related matters such as adversary proceedings, citation hearings, and foreclosure proceedings; has served on numerous creditors’ committees; is currently serving on the Northern District of Illinois Local Rules Advisory Committee which provides direct communication with the bench on the applicable local bankruptcy rules; and has lectured and continues to lecture on bankruptcy matters on both local and national stages including co-chairing regional conferences of the American Bankruptcy Institute.
HMB has agreed to hourly rates of $250 for Senior Partners and Associate Attorneys, and $225 for Paralegals. The attorneys’ rates are significantly reduced from HMB’s regular rates to conform to the Board of Commissioners’ policy of an hourly rate cap of $250 for outside legal services procured by the District.
Per the Board’s May 5, 2022 authorization to advertise the contract, the Affirmative Action Appendix A and Appendix V were not included in this RFP since the total value of the contract is less than $100,000.00.
In view of the foregoing, it is requested that the Director of Procurement and Materials Management be authorized to issue a purchase order and enter into an agreement for Contract 22-RFP-11, Professional Legal Services for Bankruptcy and Collection Matters for a three-year period, with the law firm of Horwood Marcus & Berk Chartered, a/k/a HMB Legal Counsel, in an amount not to exceed $75,000.00. Funds for the years 2023, 2024, and 2025 are contingent on the Board of Commissioners’ approval of the District’s budget for those years.
Requested, Susan T. Morakalis, General Counsel, STM:CMM:PS
Recommended, Darlene A. LoCascio, Director of Procurement and Materials Management
Respectfully Submitted, Barbara J. McGowan, Chairman Committee on Procurement
Disposition of this agenda item will be documented in the official Regular Board Meeting Minutes of the Board of Commissioners for October 20, 2022
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