RFQ - Representation of Indigent Persons in Tuscaloosa Municipal Court

CITY OF TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA
REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS
FOR PROFESSIONAL LEGAL SERVICES
Representation of Indigent Persons in Tuscaloosa Municipal
Court
OCA File Number: OCA-26-0674
Issued by:
City of Tuscaloosa Municipal Court
2122 6th Street Tuscaloosa, AL 35401
Date Issued: 08/17/2026
Deadline for Proposals: 09/18/2026 5:00 PM CST
LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED
1

CONTENTS
Part 1 - Overview ................................................................................................................................... 1
Part 2 - The Project and Scope of Work ................................................................................................ 2
Part 3 - Content of Proposals ................................................................................................................ 4
Part 4 - Instructions for Proposals ......................................................................................................... 6
Part 5 - Selection Procedure.................................................................................................................. 9
2

PART 1 - OVERVIEW
The City of Tuscaloosa is requesting qualifications from professional firms to provide legal services to
indigent persons qualifying for legal representation in Tuscaloosa Municipal Court. Part 2 of this RFQ
provides a general description and abbreviated scope of work for the project.
This is a procurement of professional services and will be conducted in a manner to provide full and open
competition. The criteria may include, but is not limited to: proof of competency and experience in areas
of criminal defense advocacy such as plea negotiation, pre-trial motion practice, and criminal trial
experience. Upon selection, the City will enter into negotiations with the successful Respondent firm(s).
Pending successful negotiations, the successful Respondent(s) will enter into a Contract for professional
legal services with the City.
1

PART 2 - THE PROJECT AND SCOPE OF WORK
The City of Tuscaloosa seeks the professional legal services of a firm or firms possessing the
knowledge, experience and expertise to perform the following types of services upon request from
Tuscaloosa Municipal Court:
Professional Legal Services including:
Full legal representation and services of and for indigent persons appearing before Tuscaloosa
Municipal Court1 who qualify for appointed legal counsel and who may be charged with violations of
municipal ordinances (which may include violations of local and/or State law).
This includes review of discovery, consultation with clients and witnesses, motion practice, and all
other professional legal services necessary to provide competent representation to clients related to
their municipal court charges, including, where applicable, assistance in filing of appeals.
The City reserves the right, subject to negotiation and agreement, in writing, with the selected
Respondent(s), to either expand or limit the scope of services as needed.
Minimum Qualifications:
The selected firm shall be competent, communicative, and dependable in their representation of
municipal court clients. To that end, the respondent firms shall at a minimum:
1. Comply with all applicable state, local, and federal laws, rules, and regulations, and professional
rules promulgated by the Alabama State Bar.
2. Represent clients directly and not arrange for substitute counsel except only in rare
extenuating circumstances.2
3. Employ the degree of legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness, and preparation reasonably
necessary to provide competent representation to municipal court clients, including meeting with
clients in advance of the court date when necessary to discuss discovery and pre-trial settlement
offers.
4. Abide by the client's decisions concerning the objectives of representation, including the
client's decision whether to accept an offer of settlement.
5. Keep clients reasonably informed about the status of cases by answering phone calls and
returning missed phone calls within a reasonable amount of time, promptly comply with clients'
reasonable requests for information, and explain the circumstances of cases to the extent
reasonably necessary to permit clients to make informed decisions regarding the representation.
6. Meet with clients outside of court (including at the jail) when the same is necessary to ensure
that adequate attention is given to settlement negotiation and preparation for court hearings.
1 See Municipal Court schedule attached as Exhibit A.
2 While joint submissions (see p. 3) are acceptable, the City is committed to ensuring that municipal court clients can
depend on the same attorney to be present with them in court at each docket. With multiple attorneys this may
require greater coordination in scheduling.
2

Joint Submissions and Part-time Capacity Submissions:
Respondents are free to form a legal entity with another firm to enter a joint submission to the
Request for Qualifications. Therefore, Respondents may be two separate professional firms forming
a legal entity to perform the services requested in this RFQ or individuals (in part-time capacities) or
one single firm or individual (in a full-time capacity). See section 3.3 below for more information on
part-time and full-time applications.
3

PART 3 - CONTENT OF PROPOSALS / RESPONSE TO THIS REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS
Each Respondent should include the following content, in the following order:
* Understanding and Approach
* Experience, Licensing and Professional Standing
* Conflicts of Interest
Each of these items is discussed in more detail in the following sections.
3.1 Understanding and Approach
a. Indicate whether the Respondent firm is capable of performing the above-described services in a
part-time capacity or a full-time capacity. If a part-time capacity, include any relevant additional
information about schedule restrictions (e.g., morning as opposed to afternoon, Tuesday as a
opposed to Thursday, etc.).
b. Discuss the proposed approach to resolving scheduling conflicts with other courtrooms and
ensuring that the Respondent(s) listed in 3.2 will be present in court when so required. For proposals
enlisting the services of more than one attorney, describe the plan for representation of clients.
c. Discuss the proposed approach to representation of clients in Tuscaloosa Municipal Court. Include
Respondent firm's approach to representing difficult clients, efficiently managing a high volume of
clients, addressing potential immigration issues, and navigating substance abuse and mental health
disorders among clients. Include the respondent firm's policy on returning emails and phone calls
(e.g., client phone calls will be returned within 48 business hours).
d. Describe the proposed approach to file management. Some clients may have their cases resolved
in one court appearance while others cases may take months to resolve. Explain how the respondent
firm will ensure that a sufficient file is preserved in both situations. If the respondent firm uses file-
keeping software, include the name of the software and how it can be accessed in court. If the
respondent firm uses a paper-filing system, explain that process including system of organization and
retention polices.
3.2 Education, Experience, Licensure, and Standing
a. For each attorney proposed to provide legal services for the applicant Respondent firm(s), please
include the following:
1. Resume which includes attorney's education, experience and references.
2. A dated Letter of Good Standing for the attorney issued by the Alabama State Bar
Association.
3. A signed and dated statement/letter from the attorney confirming that the attorney is
currently a member in good standing of the Alabama Bar not presently debarred, suspended,
proposed for debarment, declared ineligible, pending any disciplinary proceeding, or
voluntarily excluded from participation in the practice of law by any state or federal
department or agency.
4

4. A list of up to five (5) criminal law hearings or trials in which the attorney has represented
a criminal Defendant in the past three (3) years that gives the jurisdiction, type of proceeding
and date of proceeding. (e.g., : Hearing on Motion to Suppress in Tuscaloosa Circuit Court -
January, 2021).
5. List all claims made against the attorney arising out of the attorney's legal professional
services and list all litigation (including any arbitration or mediation proceedings) to which
the attorney has been a party.3 If the attorney has not been a party to any claims or litigation,
please include a statement to that effect.
3.3 Conflicts of Interest
Please identify all actual or potential conflicts of interest that would prevent the Respondent firm (s)
from entering into a professional relationship with (1) the City generally, or (2) with indigent persons
they may be appointed to represent in Tuscaloosa Municipal Court specifically. If no such conflicts
exist, please include a statement to that effect. Note: the selected Respondent firm(s) will be
responsible for implementing their own conflict of interest checks as necessary.
3 The disclosure of claims, or litigation will not automatically disqualify a Respondent from consideration. The
Selection Committee will review any matter disclosed and make an independent determination as to whether the
matter should disqualify the Respondent from consideration.
5

PART 4 - INSTRUCTIONS FOR PROPOSALS
Before submitting a response to this RFQ, the Respondent firms should carefully review the entire
RFQ and be familiar with its contents.
4.1 Format of Proposals
Proposals may be written in either Times New Roman or Calibri font, and the font size must be 12-
point or larger.
4.2 Inquiries
The City will accept inquiries on the contents and requirements of the RFQ in electronic form only.
Inquiries may only be submitted by email. Inquiries should be submitted to:
City Project Representative: Jessica Steward
Contact Information: jsteward@tuscaloosa.com
Inquiries must be submitted at least seven (7) days before the deadline for submission of proposals.
For this RFQ, the deadline for inquiries is September 18, 2026 at 5:00 PM Central Standard Time,
after which time no further inquiries will be addressed by the City.
If the City chooses to respond to an inquiry, the City will do so in writing, in the form of an addendum
to this RFQ. The addendum will be sent to all recipients of the RFQ, and will be posted to the City's
website at www.tuscaloosa.com/bids.
Each addendum issued by the City shall become part of this RFQ and proposals shall include any work
or requirements described in the addendum. No addendum will be issued or posted less than 72
hours before the deadline for submission of responses to this RFQ.
4.3 Submissions
Respondent firm submissions must be received by the City by 5:00 PM Central Standard Time on
September 18, 2026. Late proposals will not be accepted or reviewed. It is the Respondent firm's
responsibility to ensure that their submission is received within the time required by this RFQ.
Respondent firms MUST submit proposals electronically. Electronic submissions should be made in
Portable Document Format (PDF) file format, and should be sent to via email to:
City Project Representative: Jessica Steward
Contact Information: jsteward@tuscaloosa.com
Proposals should be clearly labeled with the following information:
Proposal for PROFESSIONAL LEGAL SERVICES, Representation of Indigent Defendants in Municipal
Court
6

OCA File Number: OCA 26 0674
The Respondent is responsible for obtaining confirmation that the City received the Respondent
firm's proposal.
4.4 Additional Items Related to submissions by Respondent Firms
a. Submission rejection
By issuing this RFQ, the City does not commit to entering into a contract, to paying any costs incurred
in the preparation of a submission, proposal, or to procuring or contracting for services. The City
reserves the right to cancel this RFQ in whole or in part, to reject any and/or all submissions and
proposals, to accept the submission and proposal it considers the most favorable to the City's
interests in its sole discretion, and to waive irregularities or informalities in any
submissions/proposals or in the submission procedures. The City reserves the right to reject all
submissions or proposals and issue a new RFQ, at its sole discretion. All submissions and proposals
and other materials submitted in response to this RFQ will become property of the City.
b. Contract and Insurance Requirements
The laws of the State of Alabama shall govern the contract executed between the successful
Respondent Firm(s) and the City, as well as any interpretations or constructions thereof. Further, the
place of performance and transaction of business shall be deemed to be in the City of Tuscaloosa,
Alabama, and in the event of litigation, the exclusive venue and place of jurisdiction shall be in the
Tuscaloosa County, Alabama. For any and all attorneys who will perform any legal services in
response to this RFQ, each attorney will be required to submit proof of ATTORNEYS' PROFESSIONAL
LIABILITY INSURANCE to the satisfaction of the City.
c. Requests for Additional Information
The City reserves the right to request additional information from Respondent Firms to clarify the
submissions.
4.5 Public Records
Each Respondent is hereby informed that, upon submission of its proposal to the City in response to
this RFQ, the proposal becomes the property of the City.
Unless otherwise compelled by a court order, the City will not disclose any submissions while the City
conducts its deliberative process in accordance with the procedures identified in this RFQ. However,
after the City either awards an agreement to a firm, or after the City rejects all submissions, the City
shall consider each submission from Respondents subject to the public disclosure requirements of
the Alabama Open Records Act (Ala. Code 36-12-40) and Tuscaloosa City Code 2-4, unless there
is a legal exception to public disclosure.
7

If a Respondent believes that any portion of its proposal is subject to a legal exception to public
disclosure, the Respondent shall: (1) clearly mark the relevant portions of its proposal "Confidential";
(2) upon request from the City, identify the legal basis for exception from disclosure under the Open
Records Act; and (3) defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the City regarding any claim by any third
party for the public disclosure of the "Confidential" portion of the qualifications submittal.
8