BOARD MEETING DATE: July 11, 2008
AGENDA NO. 23

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:

1. Approve the firms (a) Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger (b) Woodruff Spradlin & Smart and (c) Ivie, McNeill & Wyatt (d) Miles Chen and (e) Perkins Coie as pre-qualified law firms having expertise in the California Environmental Quality Act, AQMD rulemaking and planning procedures, issues relating to statute and rule interpretation, air quality laws, administrative law, representation of government agencies, constitutional issues, the Brown Act, and complex environmental litigation, that District Counsel may use to represent the AQMD in future litigation and for advice.
    
2. Authorize the Chairman of the Board or the Executive Officer, depending on whether the amount exceeds $50,000, to execute contracts with any of the above firms as the need arises for a total not to exceed $250,000 annually for up to three years.
    
3. Approve the firm Strumwasser & Woocher as a pre-qualified law firm having expertise in the above-referenced areas to provide representation and advice as required by the AQMD Hearing Board.
    
4. Authorize the Executive Officer to execute contracts with Strumwasser & Woocher to provide representation to the Hearing Board as the need arises for a total not to exceed $15,000 annually for up to three years.

 

Barry R. Wallerstein, D.Env.
Executive Officer

Background

On May 2, 2008, the Governing Board approved issuance of an RFP for an amount up to $250,000 for the AQMD District Counsel and $15,000 for the AQMD Hearing Board to solicit proposals from outside litigation counsel having particular expertise and experience in the California Environmental Quality Act, AQMD rulemaking and planning procedures, issues relating to statute and rule interpretation, air quality laws, administrative law, representation of government agencies, constitutional issues, the Brown Act, and complex environmental litigation. The RFP was issued jointly to limit costs. District Counsel and the AQMD Hearing Board will utilize different firms to avoid conflicts of interest. In the past the AQMD and the AQMD Hearing Board have faced, and likely will face in the future, litigation and other matters requiring such specialized expertise. A rapid response is needed in such situations, and it is not possible to go through the RFP process as new cases arise. Establishing pre-qualified lists ensures that AQMD and AQMD Hearing Board can quickly select counsel for representation as needed. It is also important to have a sufficient variety of firms (large as well as small) to be able to handle the variant of types of lawsuits involving AQMD.

Outreach

In accordance with AQMD’s Procurement Policy and Procedure, a public notice advertising the RFP/RFQ and inviting bids was published in the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register, the San Bernardino Sun, and Riverside County Press Enterprise newspapers to leverage the most cost-effective method of outreach to the entire South Coast Basin. Additionally, potential bidders were notified by sending notification to minority bar associations including:

1. 1. African American Attorneys, Inland Empire

   2. American Indian Bar, So. CA

   3. Arab-American Lawyers Assoc. of So. CA

   4. Armenian Bar Assoc.

   5. Asian/Pacific Bar of CA

   6. Bernard S. Jefferson Law Society

   7. Black Women Lawyers Assoc. of Los Angeles, Inc.

   8. California Assoc. of Black Lawyers

   9. California Woman Lawyers

   10. Filipino-American Lawyers Assoc.

   11. Hispanic Bar Assoc. of Orange County

   12. Inland Empire Latino Lawyers Assoc.

   13. Iranian American Bar

   14. Japanese American Bar Assoc. of Los Angeles

   15. John M. Langston Bar Assoc. of Los Angeles

   16. Korean American Bar Assoc.

   17. La Raza Lawyers Assoc. of CA.

   18. Latina Lawyers Bar Assoc.

   19. Mexican-American Bar Assoc. of L.A. County

   20. Orange County Asian American Bar Assoc.

   21. Orange County Japanese American Lawyers

   22. Philippine American Bar Assoc.

   23. So. CA Chinese Lawyers Assoc.

   24. Vietnamese American Bar Assoc.

   25. Women Lawyers Assoc. of Los Angeles

   26. Women Lawyers Assoc. of Orange County

Notifications were also given by utilizing the Los Angeles County MTA Directory of Certified Firms, the Inland Area Opportunity Pages Ethnic/Women Business & Professional Directory; and AQMD’s own electronic listing of certified minority vendors. Notice of the RFP was mailed to the Black and Latino Legislative Caucuses and various minority chambers of commerce and business associations; and placed on the Internet at AQMD’s Web site (http://www.aqmd.gov where it can be viewed by making menu selections “Inside AQMD”/“Employment and Business Opportunities”/“Business Opportunities” or by going directly to http://www.aqmd.gov/rfp/index.html). Information is also available on AQMD’s bidder’s 24-hour telephone message line
(909) 396-2724.

Evaluation

Bid responses for the Environmental Law RFP were received from nine law firms or sole practitioners. Of the nine bid responses, only one qualified bid response addressed the needs of the Hearing Board. A summary of the responses is provided in Attachment A. An evaluation panel was convened to rate evaluate proposals for the District Counsel and one to evaluate the proposals for the Hearing Board. The Hearing Board requires different counsel than the firms hired by AQMD because its interest may not coincide with AQMD’s. The panel consisted of three AQMD District Counsel attorneys, two male and one female; two Caucasian and one Hispanic.
 

Proposal

Establish two lists, one for the AQMD and one for the AQMD Hearing Board, valid from July 11, 2008, through July 31, 2011, of pre-qualified outside counsel for advice and representation in areas related to environmental law, governmental law, and constitutional issues.
 

For the AQMD:

Shute Mihaly & Weinberger
Woodruff Spradlin & Smart
Ivie McNeill & Wyatt
Miles Chen
Perkins Coie
 

For the AQMD Hearing Board:

Strumwasser & Woocher

Resource Impacts

The recommended total annual budget for environmental outside counsel is $250,000 for District Counsel, $15,000 for the AQMD Hearing Board, all of which may be allocated to one or more selected contractors as the need arises based on future litigation, the availability of counsel, and the needs of the AQMD and AQMD Hearing Board. Selection may also be made for occasional assignments in subject areas of the firms' expertise that do not involve litigation.
 

Attachment (doc 37 kb)

Summary of Responses to RFP #2008-22