RFP-27-665-1030-78433 Attorney Services

OFFICE OF GENERAL COUNSEL
OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)
ATTORNEY SERVICES
RFP#
27-665-1030-78433
RFP Release Date: 8/20/2026
Proposal Due Date: 9/10/2026
ELECTRONIC-ONLY PROPOSAL SUBMISSION
Rev.04.2024

Table of Contents
I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................. 1
A. PURPOSE OF THIS REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS ............................................................................................ 1
B. BACKGROUND INFORMATION .................................................................................................................... 1
C. SCOPE OF PROCUREMENT .......................................................................................................................... 1
D. PROCUREMENT MANAGER......................................................................................................................... 2
E. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION ............................................................................................................................. 3
F. DEFINITION OF TERMINOLOGY ................................................................................................................... 3
G. PROCUREMENT LIBRARY ............................................................................................................................ 6
II. CONDITIONS GOVERNING THE PROCUREMENT .............................................................................................. 6
A. SEQUENCE OF EVENTS ..................................................................................................................................... 6
B. EXPLANATION OF EVENTS ............................................................................................................................... 7
1. Issue RFP ..................................................................................................................................................... 7
2. Acknowledgement of Receipt Form ............................................................................................................ 7
3. Pre-Proposal Conference ............................................................................................................................ 8
4. Deadline to Submit Written Questions ....................................................................................................... 8
5. Response to Written Questions .................................................................................................................. 8
6. Submission of Proposal ............................................................................................................................... 8
7. Proposal Evaluation .................................................................................................................................... 9
8. Selection of Finalists ................................................................................................................................... 9
9. Oral Presentations ...................................................................................................................................... 9
10. Best and Final Offers ............................................................................................................................ 10
11. Contract Awards .................................................................................................................................. 10
12. Protest Deadline................................................................................................................................... 10
C. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS ............................................................................................................................. 10
1. Acceptance of Conditions Governing the Procurement ............................................................................ 10
2. Incurring Cost ............................................................................................................................................ 11
3. Prime Contractor Responsibility ............................................................................................................... 11
4. Subcontractors/Consent ........................................................................................................................... 11
5. Amended Proposals .................................................................................................................................. 11
6. Offeror's Rights to Withdraw Proposal ..................................................................................................... 11
7. Proposal Offer Firm ................................................................................................................................... 11
8. Disclosure of Proposal Contents ............................................................................................................... 12
9. No Obligation ............................................................................................................................................ 12
10. Termination ......................................................................................................................................... 12
11. Sufficient Appropriation ....................................................................................................................... 12
12. Legal Review ........................................................................................................................................ 12
13. Governing Law ..................................................................................................................................... 13
14. Basis for Proposal................................................................................................................................. 13
15. Contract Terms and Conditions ............................................................................................................ 13
16. Offeror's Terms and Conditions ........................................................................................................... 13
17. Contract Deviations ............................................................................................................................. 14
18. Offeror Qualifications .......................................................................................................................... 14
19. Right to Waive Minor Irregularities ..................................................................................................... 14
20. Change in Contractor Representatives ................................................................................................ 14
21. Notice of Penalties ............................................................................................................................... 14
22. Agency Rights....................................................................................................................................... 14
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23. Right to Publish .................................................................................................................................... 14
24. Ownership of Proposals ....................................................................................................................... 15
25. Confidentiality ...................................................................................................................................... 15
26. Electronic mail address required .......................................................................................................... 15
27. Use of Electronic Versions of this RFP .................................................................................................. 15
28. New Mexico Employees Health Coverage ............................................................................................ 15
29. Campaign Contribution Disclosure Form ............................................................................................. 16
30. Letter of Transmittal ............................................................................................................................ 16
31. Disclosure Regarding Responsibility .................................................................................................... 16
32. New Mexico/Native American Resident Preferences ........................................................................... 18
III. RESPONSE FORMAT AND ORGANIZATION .................................................................................................... 18
A. NUMBER OF RESPONSES ............................................................................................................................... 18
B. ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION ............................................................................................................................. 18
C. PROPOSAL CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION ................................................................................................... 20
IV. SPECIFICATIONS ........................................................................................................................................... 21
A. DETAILED SCOPE OF WORK ................................................................................................................................. 21
B. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 25
1. Minimum Qualifications ........................................................................................................................... 25
2. Organizational Experience ........................................................................................................................ 25
3. Demonstrated Experience ......................................................................................................................... 26
4. Cost Containment Strategies .................................................................................................................... 26
5. Organizational References ........................................................................................................................ 27
C. BUSINESS SPECIFICATIONS ............................................................................................................................ 27
1. Financial Stability ...................................................................................................................................... 27
2. Letter of Transmittal Form ........................................................................................................................ 27
3. Campaign Contribution Disclosure Form .................................................................................................. 28
4. Cost ........................................................................................................................................................... 28
5. New Mexico/Native American Resident Preferences ............................................................................... 28
V. EVALUATION ................................................................................................................................................ 28
A. EVALUATION POINT SUMMARY .................................................................................................................... 28
B. EVALUATION FACTORS .................................................................................................................................. 29
1. B.1 Minimum Qualifications ..................................................................................................................... 29
2. B.2 Organizational Experience (See Table 1) ............................................................................................ 29
3. B.3 Demonstrated Experience .................................................................................................................. 29
4. B.4 Cost Containment Strategies .............................................................................................................. 29
5. B.5 Organizational References (See Table 1) ............................................................................................ 29
6. C.1 Financial Stability ................................................................................................................................ 30
7. C.2 Letter of Transmittal ........................................................................................................................... 30
8. C.3 Campaign Contribution Disclosure Form ............................................................................................ 30
9. C.4 Cost (See Table 1) ............................................................................................................................... 30
10. C.5. New Mexico/Native American Resident Preferences .................................................................... 30
C. EVALUATION PROCESS .................................................................................................................................. 31
APPENDIX A ...................................................................................................................................................... 32
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF RECEIPT FORM .......................................................................................................... 32
APPENDIX B ...................................................................................................................................................... 34
DRAFT CONTRACT ............................................................................................................................................. 34
APPENDIX C ...................................................................................................................................................... 49
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CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION DISCLOSURE FORM ................................................................................................ 49
APPENDIX D ...................................................................................................................................................... 52
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL FORM ........................................................................................................................ 52
APPENDIX E ...................................................................................................................................................... 54
COST RESPONSE FORM ..................................................................................................................................... 54
APPENDIX F....................................................................................................................................................... 55
ORGANIZATIONAL REFERENCE QUESTIONNAIRE ................................................................................................ 55
EXHIBIT A .......................................................................................................................................................... 59
EXHIBIT B .......................................................................................................................................................... 60
EXHIBIT C .......................................................................................................................................................... 61
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I. INTRODUCTION
A. PURPOSE OF THIS REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
The purpose of the Request for Proposal (RFP) is to solicit sealed proposals to establish a contract
through competitive negotiations for the procurement of Attorney services for the State of New
Mexico. The New Mexico Department of Health (DOH) seeks to engage qualified legal
professionals or firms to provide comprehensive legal representation, advisory, and litigation
support services. These services will support the agency's ongoing efforts to manage and resolve
civil litigation, ensure compliance with applicable laws, and protect the agency's legal interests.
DOH is releasing this RFP to select a vendor that offers legal expertise in civil litigation, case
management, risk analysis and strategic legal advice.
B. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Department of Health is often a party to litigation in state and federal courts, most commonly
in the role of a defendant, or in the role of a respondent in cases seeking injunctive or declaratory
relief or cases involving appeals of administrative decisions. In some cases the Department may
act as an appellant or appellee in state or federal courts of appeal. The Department is comprised of
various divisions, bureaus and programs, including but not limited to the Public Health Division,
the Center for Medical Cannabis and Psilocybin, the State Laboratory, the Center for Health
Protection, and various Department-run facilities.
C. SCOPE OF PROCUREMENT
The term of the resulting contract(s) will be for four years.
The scope of this procurement is for Attorney services for the State of New Mexico. Services in
Scope include:
* Serve as outside counsel for the Agency upon the Agency's designation, providing legal
services as appropriate, including but not limited to representing the Department in human
resource matters.
* Provision of legal advice and services as it relates to Agency operations and functions,
including provision of legal representation in administrative and judicial proceedings;
representation in hearings and arbitrations; and representation in employment, personnel,
and labor disputes.
* Establish and maintain an official file for each assigned case containing all correspondence,
pleadings, exhibits, etc.
* Work closely with relevant Agency staff and any attorney(s) identified signed as liaison(s)
within the Agency's Office of General Counsel.
* Keep the Agency's Office of General Counsel timely informed during all litigation stages
about dates of settlement conferences, mediations and arbitrations, and hearing dates on all
dispositive motions.
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* Travel for trials, hearings, and meetings as necessary and appropriate.
* Disclosure of any past, existing, or potential conflicts of interest in the course of
representing the Agency.
* Submission of an initial risk analysis (IRA) in a format determined by Agency within thirty
(60) days of assignment.
* Submission of quarterly status reports (QSRs) in a format determined by Agency at ninety-
day intervals from completion of the IRA.
* Submission of a litigation risk analysis (LRA) in a format determined by Agency at least
thirty (30) days before a mediation and/or trial date, or upon request of Agency.
This RFP may result in multiple awards.
This procurement will result in a contractual agreement between two parties; the procurement may
ONLY be used by those two parties exclusively.
D. PROCUREMENT MANAGER
New Mexico Department of Health has assigned a Procurement Manager who is responsible for
the conduct of this procurement whose name, address, telephone number and e-mail address are
listed below:
Name: Dion Barbero, Procurement Manager
Telephone: (505) 490-3988
Email: Dion.Barbero@doh.nm.gov
a. Any inquiries or requests regarding this procurement should be submitted, in writing, to the
Procurement Manager via the NMDOH Bonfire Procurement Portal. Offerors may contact
ONLY the Procurement Manager regarding this procurement. Other state employees or
Evaluation Committee members do not have the authority to respond on behalf of the
NMDOH.
b. Protests of the solicitation or award must be submitted in writing to the Protest
Manager identified in Section II.B.13. As a Protest Manager has been named in this
Request for Proposals, pursuant to 13-1-172 NMSA 1978, ONLY protests delivered
directly to the Protest Manager in writing and in a timely fashion will be considered
to have been submitted properly and in accordance with statute, rule and this Request
for Proposals. Protests submitted or delivered to the Procurement Manager will NOT be
considered properly submitted.
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E. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION
All deliveries of proposals Must be submitted via the NMDOH Bonfire Procurement
Portal. Only electronic submittals in the Bonfire Procurement Portal will be accepted for
this RFP.
https://nmhealth.bonfirehub.com/portal/
F. DEFINITION OF TERMINOLOGY
This section contains definitions of terms used throughout this procurement document, including
appropriate abbreviations
1. "Agency" means the State Purchasing Division of the General Services Department or that
State Agency sponsoring this Procurement.
2. "Award" means the final execution of the contract document.
3. "Business Hours" means weekdays (Monday - Friday) 8:00 AM thru 5:00 PM
MST/MDT, whichever is in effect on the date given.
4. "Close of Business" means weekdays (Monday - Friday) 5:00 PM MST/MDT, whichever
is in effect on the date given.
5. "Confidential" means confidential financial information concerning Offeror's organization
and data that qualifies as a trade secret in accordance with the Uniform Trade Secrets Act
57-3-A-1 through 57-3A-7 NMSA 1978,. The following items may not be labelled as
confidential: Offeror's submitted Cost response, Staff/Personnel Resumes/Bios (excluding
personal information such as personal telephone numbers and/or home addresses), and
other submitted data that is not confidential financial information or that qualifies under the
Uniform Trade Secrets Act.
6. "Contract" means any agreement for the procurement of items of tangible personal
property, services or construction.
7. "Contractor" means any business having a contract with a state agency or local public
body.
8. "Determination" means the written documentation of a decision of a procurement officer
including findings of fact required to support a decision. A determination becomes part of
the procurement file to which it pertains.
9. "Desirable" - the terms "may," "can," "should," "preferably," or "prefers" identify a
desirable or discretionary item or factor.
10. "Electronic Submission" means a successful submittal of Offeror's proposal in the
Bonfire system.
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11. "Electronic Version/Copy" means a digital format consisting of text, images or both,
readable on computers or other electronic devices, which includes all content that the
Original document contains. The electronic version/copy CANNOT be emailed.
12. "Evaluation Committee" means a body appointed to perform the evaluation of Offerors'
proposals.
13. "Evaluation Committee Report" means a report prepared by the Procurement Manager
and the Evaluation Committee to support the Committee's recommendation for contract
award. It will contain scores and written evaluations of all responsive Offeror proposals.
14. "Final Award" means, in the context of this Request for Proposals and all its attendant
documents, that point at which the final required signature on the contract(s) resulting from
the procurement has been affixed to the contract(s) thus making it fully executed.
15. "Finalist" means an Offeror who meets all the mandatory specifications of this Request for
Proposals and whose score on evaluation factors is sufficiently high to merit further
consideration by the Evaluation Committee, as explained in Section II.B.8.
16. "Hourly Rate" means the proposed fully loaded maximum hourly rates that include travel,
per diem, fringe benefits and any overhead costs for contractor personnel, as well as
subcontractor personnel if appropriate.
17. "IT" means Information Technology.
18. "Mandatory" - the terms "must," "shall" "will," "is required," or "are required," identify a
mandatory item or factor. Failure to meet a mandatory item or factor may result in the
rejection of the Offeror's proposal.
19. "Minor Irregularities" means anything in the proposal that does not affect the price,
quality and/or quantity, or any other mandatory requirement.
20. "Multiple Source Award" means an award of a contract for one or more items of tangible
personal property, services or construction to more than one Offeror.
21. "Offeror" is any person, corporation, or partnership who chooses to submit a proposal.
22. "Price Agreement" means a definite quantity contract or indefinite quantity contract which
requires the contractor to furnish items of tangible personal property, services or
construction to a state agency or a local public body which issues a purchase order, if the
purchase order is within the quantity limitations of the contract, if any.
23. "Procurement Manager" means any person or designee authorized by a state agency or
local public body with the responsibility, authority, and resources to conduct the RFP
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procurement, make written determinations regarding the RFP procurement, and/or enter
into or administer contracts as a result of the RFP procurement.
24. "Procuring Agency" means all State of New Mexico agencies, commissions, institutions,
political subdivisions and local public bodies allowed by law to procure items of tangible
personal property, services or construction from the agreement(s) awarded as a result of
this RFP.
25. "Project" means a temporary process undertaken to solve a well-defined goal or objective
with clearly defined start and end times, a set of clearly defined tasks, and a budget. The
project terminates once the project scope is achieved and project acceptance is given by the
project executive sponsor.
26. "Redacted" means a version/copy of the Offeror's proposal with the information
considered proprietary or confidential (as defined by 57-3A-1 to 57-3A-7 NMSA 1978
and summarized herein and outlined in Section II.C.8 of this RFP) blacked-out BUT NOT
omitted or removed.
27. "Request for Proposals (RFP)" means all documents, including those attached or
incorporated by reference, used for soliciting proposals.
28. "Responsible Offeror" means an Offeror who submits a responsive proposal and who has
furnished, when required, information and data to prove that his financial resources,
production or service facilities, personnel, service reputation and experience are adequate
to make satisfactory delivery of the services, or items of tangible personal property
described in the proposal.
29. "Responsive Offer" or means an offer which conforms in all material respects to the
requirements set forth in the request for proposals. Material respects of a request for
proposals include, but are not limited to price, quality, quantity or delivery requirements.
30. "Sealed" means, in terms of electronic submission, an Offeror's proposal and all
accompanying documents has been completely and successfully uploaded into Bonfire
system prior to the submission deadline stated in the RFP.
31. "Single Source Award" means an award of contract for items of tangible personal
property, services or construction to only one Offeror.
32. "NMDOH" means the New Mexico Department of Health.
33. "Staff" means any individual who is a full-time, part-time, or an independently contracted
employee with the Offerors' company.
34. "State (the State)" means the State of New Mexico.
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35. "State Agency" means any department, commission, council, board, committee,
institution, legislative body, agency, government corporation, educational institution or
official of the executive, legislative or judicial branch of the government of this state.
"State agency" includes the Purchasing Division of the General Services Department and
the State Purchasing Agent but does not include local public bodies.
36. "State Purchasing Agent" means the Director of the Purchasing Division of the General
Services Department.
37. "Statement of Concurrence" means an affirmative statement from the Offeror indicating
its response to a required Section IV specification agreeing to comply and concur with the
stated requirement(s). This statement shall be included in Offerors proposal, pursuant to
Section III.C.1. (E.g. "We concur," "Understands and Complies," "Comply," "Will
Comply if Applicable," etc.)
38. "Unredacted" means a version/copy of the proposal containing all complete information;
including any that the Offeror would otherwise consider confidential, such copy for use
only for the purposes of evaluation.
39. "Written" means typed in standard 8 12 x 11 inch document format, by common electronic
means (such as Microsoft Word, Adobe PDF, etc.). A larger size document is permissible
for charts, spreadsheets, etc.
G. PROCUREMENT LIBRARY
A procurement library has been established. Offerors are encouraged to review the material
contained in the Procurement Library by selecting the link provided in this document through your
own internet connection. The library contains information listed below:
RFP, Questions & Answers, RFP Amendments, etc.
https://nmhealth.bonfirehub.com/portal/
https://www.nmhealth.org/publication/rfp/
II. CONDITIONS GOVERNING THE PROCUREMENT
This section of the RFP contains the schedule of events, the descriptions of each event, and the
conditions governing this procurement.
A. SEQUENCE OF EVENTS
The Procurement Manager will make every effort to adhere to the following schedule:
Action Responsible Party Due Dates
1. Issue RFP Agency 8/20/2026
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