Arlington County Government Sealed Solicitation
Title: 22-CCT-ITB-174 Court Reporting Services
Deadline: 7/26/2021 2:00 PM (UTC-05:00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)
Status: Awarded
Solicitation Number: 22-CCT-ITB-174
Description: Court Reporting and Transcription Services to the Circuit Court on an as-needed basis
Documents:
| Documents as of 7/2/2021 |
|---|
| 22-CCT-ITB-174 Court Reporter Services.pdf |
| Attachment A - Pricing Sheet.xlsx |
Question 1
Posted: 7/15/2021
Question: Are preliminary dockets available before 4 p.m. the previous business day? What is the maximum number of reporters required or needed on Fridays? Are we able to sell transcripts to parties directly, or do they all order through Arlington County at the pricing we quote to the County? Are there any specific transcript formatting requirements beyond PDF format and certified consistent with the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia? What is the anticipated contract period, with options?
Response: Are preliminary dockets available before 4 p.m. the previous business day? This is not the court’s current practice. What is the maximum number of reporters required or needed on Fridays? Likely no more than three (3). Are we able to sell transcripts to parties directly, or do they all order through Arlington County at the pricing we quote to the County? Counsel for indigent defendants must order transcripts through the court and invoices are paid at the contract pricing rates. Are there any specific transcript formatting requirements beyond PDF format and certified consistent with the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia? Transcripts must formatted to allow for electronic filing in pdf format. All filed transcripts must be certified consistent with the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia. What is the anticipated contract period, with options? A 1 year contract period with four 1 year renewal options.
Question 2
Posted: 7/15/2021
Question: We respectfully request that the requirement for all electronic court reporters to be currently AAERT Certified Electronic Reporters (CER) be removed or modified. We believe that this is an exclusionary requirement that shows favoritism and bias towards specific companies. There are at least one hundred thousand competent electronic court reporters in the United States, of this pool only 339 hold CER certification, within this group only 8 people in the state of Virginia hold the Certification, 7 work for our direct competitors, only one is independent of any court reporting company. We feel this skews the contract in these competitors direction. I don’t believe there is any one company has a sufficient number of certified electronic reporters to adequately provide services under this contract. We are a GSA contract holder, a corporate member of AAERT and NCRA, we are very familiar with the requirements for CER. We encourage education and provide training and feedback for all of our court reporters. We have a successful 17 year track record with similar court reporting projects. We currently work with dozens of well qualified electronic court reporters none of whom hold this certification. This certification is not required for any of our other government contracts, either federal, state or local. While all of our electronic court reporters would be able to obtain CER certification, it would be unreasonable for us to require it of our reporters. The costs associated with maintaining a CER certification do not make economic sense for someone working in this area, because it is not a requirement for other contracts. The costs associated with CER certification: annual membership in AAERT, $125 plus approved continuing education ~$75-$150 per year, initially the reporter is required to purchase a best practices guide $50, and sit for the exam $275. If this requirement stands, we request additional time to allow time to get our electronic reporters through the process and receive CER certification.
Response: The ITB requires certification by any one of three organizations – 1) the American Association of Electronic Court Reporters & Transcribers (AAERT), 2) National Court Reporters’ Association (NCRA) or 3) National Verbatim Reporters’ Association (NVRA). We decline the request to remove or modify the requirement. We also decline the request to extend the submission deadline.
Question 3
Posted: 7/15/2021
Question: Regarding the Agreement and Contract Terms, paragraph 4, Contract Term (page 14 of the solicitation), what are the expected start date and end date of the contract (the initial contract term) and the number of additional 12-month periods (subsequent contract terms)?
Response: A 1 year contract period with four 1 year renewal options.
Posted: 7/15/2021
Question: Are preliminary dockets available before 4 p.m. the previous business day? What is the maximum number of reporters required or needed on Fridays? Are we able to sell transcripts to parties directly, or do they all order through Arlington County at the pricing we quote to the County? Are there any specific transcript formatting requirements beyond PDF format and certified consistent with the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia? What is the anticipated contract period, with options?
Response: Are preliminary dockets available before 4 p.m. the previous business day? This is not the court’s current practice. What is the maximum number of reporters required or needed on Fridays? Likely no more than three (3). Are we able to sell transcripts to parties directly, or do they all order through Arlington County at the pricing we quote to the County? Counsel for indigent defendants must order transcripts through the court and invoices are paid at the contract pricing rates. Are there any specific transcript formatting requirements beyond PDF format and certified consistent with the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia? Transcripts must formatted to allow for electronic filing in pdf format. All filed transcripts must be certified consistent with the Rules of the Supreme Court of Virginia. What is the anticipated contract period, with options? A 1 year contract period with four 1 year renewal options.
Posted: 7/15/2021
Question: We respectfully request that the requirement for all electronic court reporters to be currently AAERT Certified Electronic Reporters (CER) be removed or modified. We believe that this is an exclusionary requirement that shows favoritism and bias towards specific companies. There are at least one hundred thousand competent electronic court reporters in the United States, of this pool only 339 hold CER certification, within this group only 8 people in the state of Virginia hold the Certification, 7 work for our direct competitors, only one is independent of any court reporting company. We feel this skews the contract in these competitors direction. I don’t believe there is any one company has a sufficient number of certified electronic reporters to adequately provide services under this contract. We are a GSA contract holder, a corporate member of AAERT and NCRA, we are very familiar with the requirements for CER. We encourage education and provide training and feedback for all of our court reporters. We have a successful 17 year track record with similar court reporting projects. We currently work with dozens of well qualified electronic court reporters none of whom hold this certification. This certification is not required for any of our other government contracts, either federal, state or local. While all of our electronic court reporters would be able to obtain CER certification, it would be unreasonable for us to require it of our reporters. The costs associated with maintaining a CER certification do not make economic sense for someone working in this area, because it is not a requirement for other contracts. The costs associated with CER certification: annual membership in AAERT, $125 plus approved continuing education ~$75-$150 per year, initially the reporter is required to purchase a best practices guide $50, and sit for the exam $275. If this requirement stands, we request additional time to allow time to get our electronic reporters through the process and receive CER certification.
Response: The ITB requires certification by any one of three organizations – 1) the American Association of Electronic Court Reporters & Transcribers (AAERT), 2) National Court Reporters’ Association (NCRA) or 3) National Verbatim Reporters’ Association (NVRA). We decline the request to remove or modify the requirement. We also decline the request to extend the submission deadline.
Posted: 7/15/2021
Question: Regarding the Agreement and Contract Terms, paragraph 4, Contract Term (page 14 of the solicitation), what are the expected start date and end date of the contract (the initial contract term) and the number of additional 12-month periods (subsequent contract terms)?
Response: A 1 year contract period with four 1 year renewal options.