Call for Application/Legal service – IRI Retour vers les opportunités

Procurement Number: MENA2020T06o

Open Date: April 2, 2020

Questions Deadline: August 15, 2020

Closing Deadline: August 21, 2020

Geographical Area Restrictions: n/a

Point of Contact: Sacha Gilles, sgilles@iri.org

Background:

The International Republican Institute (IRI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, organization dedicated to advancing freedom and democracy worldwide. Since 1983, IRI has worked to develop democratic institutions and ideals, carrying out a variety of international programs to promote freedom, self-government and the rule of law worldwide. IRI provides technical assistance in the areas of political party strengthening, developing civic institutions and open
elections, promoting democratic governance and advancing the rule of law.

Through the following Request for Quotes, IRI Tunisia seeks to find and individual who will provide day-to-day legal advice requested in connection with the operations of IRI, rendering general legal advice under issues of Tunisian law, reviewing contracts, agreements, documents and instruments from a legal perspective and following-up on issues to ensure IRI’s good standing. IRI Tunisia is seeking proposals from professionals who are always responsive and available.

Period of Performance:

One year from the date of signature with the option to extend one additional year.

Statement of Work:

Offerors must provide the following:

• Counsel on all legal matters related to the business operations of IRI in Tunisia, including all such matters related to labor issues, social security, office rental, etc.
• Drafting employment contracts and internal regulations governing employee relations.
• Advising on obtaining work permits, residency, visas, health check and all related issues for expatriates in Tunisia.
• Contractor will, upon request, provide a legal audit of IRI in Tunisia to ensure its legal status and standing.
• Contractor will provide legal counsel on the management of the intellectual property rights of IRI in Tunisia and advise on registration and protection of such property.
• Contractor will provide legal counsel on services that would normally fall within the scope of standard corporate commercial legal advisory.

Technical Bid:

All bids submitted to IRI must include:

• Information addressing your experience in providing each of the services identified in the above Statement of Work and your proposed specific approach for providing those services to IRI under this contract, including sufficient information to determine a clear definition of services as it relates to other providers that may be involved.
• The name, address, and telephone and facsimile numbers of the bidder (and electronic address if available);
• Bidders shall provide contact information for a minimum of two professional references with whom the applicant has had a working relationship within the last 24-month period. IRI may contact these individuals.
• If the Bidder is a U.S. organization/resident, or a foreign organization/resident which has income effectively connected with the conduct of activities in the U.S. or has an office or a place of business or a fiscal paying agent in the U.S., the technical bids must contain Bidder’s Taxpayer Identification Number.
• Bids will not exceed 5 pages (not including cover page attachments and certifications), using Times New Roman, 12-point font, 1” margins and should indicate the following:
  • Applicants experience providing similar services to NGOs
  • Applicants written proficiency in French, English and Arabic
  • License to practice law in Tunisia
• Attachment requirements:
  • CV/Resume
  • Expert Service Rate Form provided at the end of this solicitation. IRI may contact previous clients and employers for professional references and compensation confirmation.

Price Bids must adhere to the following criteria:

Price information should be presented as an hourly rate for tasks encompassed by the statement of work described above and can be billed in half hourly or 15-minute intervals. Invoices must include a description of the task(s) performed during the period for which time is billed.

Pricing must be valid for at least 60 (sixty) calendar days after the due date for proposal submission. The proposed Unit Price should be fixed and inclusive of all costs to perform, including inspection services, transportation, taxes, import duties (if any), and other levies.

If there are any additional fees, such pricing must be fully described in the bid. Bids must be submitted in Tunisian Dinars and exclude service tax due to IRI Tunisia tax exemption status; payments under any resulting contract will be made in this currency. Any other government fees, such as permits, stamps, or authorizations, will be paid upon delivering a valid government invoice to IRI.

RFQ Terms and Conditions:

• Prospective Bidders are requested to review clauses incorporated by reference in the section “Notice Listing Contract Clauses Incorporated by Reference”.
• IRI may reject any or all bids if such is within IRI’s interest.
• Payment will be made upon receipt of detailed invoices and deliverables/services.
• Proof of costs incurred, such as but not limited to receipts, pictures and financial documents may be requested during and for up to three years after the end of the contract period.
• The Bidder’s initial bid should contain the Bidder’s best offer.
• IRI reserves the right to make multiple contracts or partial contracts if, after considering administrative burden, it is in IRI’s best interest to do so.
• Discussions with Bidders following the receipt of a bid do not constitute a rejection or counteroffer by IRI.
• IRI will hold all submissions as confidential and shall not be disclosed to third parties. IRI reserves the right to share bids internally, across divisions, for the purposes of evaluating the bids.
• If IRI continues to require the goods and services and the price remains reasonable and within market norms, resulting contract may be renewed each year for up to 2 years with 30 days’ notice to the Contractor. Bidder must establish any price increase for each renewal year in the initial bid.
• By submitting a bid, Bidder agrees to comply with all terms, conditions, and provisions included in the solicitation and agreement to the services identified above, and will specifically identify any disagreement with or exceptions to the terms, conditions, and provisions.
• Bidders confirm that the prices in the bid/proposal/application/quote have been arrived at independently, without any consultation, communication, or agreement with any other bidder or competitor for the purpose of restricting
  competition.
• Bidders agree to disclose as part of the bid submission:
  • Any close, familial, or financial relationships with IRI staff and agents. For example, the bidder must disclose if a bidder’s mother conducts volunteer trainings for IRI.
  • Any family or financial relationship with other bidders submitting bids. For example, if the bidder’s father owns a company that is submitting another bid, the bidder must state this.
  • Any other action that might be interpreted as potential conflict of interest.

Evaluation and Award Process:

• Bids will be evaluated by IRI for compliance with administrative requirements, recent and relevant past performance and experience in performing of similar projects by the Bidder, technical capabilities and proposed technical approach, the qualifications of the personnel for the project, and price. IRI may contact any Bidder for clarification or additional information, but Bidders are advised that IRI intends to evaluate the offers based on the written bids and reserves the right to make decisions based solely on the information provided with the initial bids. IRI may but is not obligated to conduct additional negotiations with the most highly rated Bidders prior to award of  a contract, and may at its sole discretion elect to issue contracts to one or more Bidders.
• Mathematical errors will be corrected in the following manner: If a discrepancy exists between the total price proposed and the total price resulting from multiplying the unit price by the corresponding amounts, then the unit price will prevail and the total price will be corrected. If there were a discrepancy between the numbers written out
  in words and the amounts in numbers, then the amount expressed in words will prevail. If the Bidder does not accept the correction, the offer will be rejected.
• IRI may determine that a bid is unacceptable if the prices proposed are materially unbalanced between line items or sub-line items. Unbalanced pricing exists when, despite an acceptable total evaluated price, the price of one or more contract lineitems is significantly overstated or understated as indicated by the application of cost or price analysis techniques. A bid may be rejected if IRI determines that the lack of balance poses an unacceptable risk.
• IRI will conduct a source selection based as follows:
  • Best value: IRI intends to make an award to the responsible Offeror based on the following evaluation factors:
  • Experience in performing similar projects (based on CV) – 50 percent
    • Experience providing counsel to international NGOs on local labor laws- 50
      percent
  • Price – 40 percent
  • Language Proficiency – 10 percent
• • • Written and spoken proficiency in French, English and Arabic- 10 percent
  • IRI intends to evaluate Offerors’ proposals in accordance with these factors and make
    an award to the responsible Offeror whose proposal is most advantageous to the
    program.
• If a cost realism analysis is performed, cost realism may be considered in evaluating
  performance or price.

IRI Obligations

Issuance of this RFQ does not constitute a contractual commitment on the part of IRI, nor does it commit IRI to pay for costs incurred in the preparation and submission of a bid.

Notice Listing Contract Clauses Incorporated by Reference

IRI is required to make the Bidder subject to the clauses of the prime award. The resulting agreement incorporates one or more clauses by reference, with the same force and effect as if they were given in full text. Where “flow-down” to the Bidder is appropriate and applicable,  references to “USAID” or ”Department of State” shall be interpreted to mean “IRI”, “Recipient” to mean “Contractor”, and “Subrecipient” to mean “the Bidder”. Included by reference are 2 C.F.R. 200 and USAID Standard Provisions for Non-US Non-governmental Organizations/US Department of State Standard Terms and Conditions.