Please reference the EOI on the front of the envelope.
Faxed and e-mail responses will not be accepted.
Please submit questions about this document or the EOI
process, in writing, to:
Nicolas Neveu
Contracting Forms and Materiel Operations
Fax: 613-990-8197
E-mail: nicolas.neveu@justice.g.c.ca
1. INTRODUCTION
The Department of Justice Act
is the authority which provides the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada with the
responsibility for the legal affairs of the government as a whole and for
providing legal services to individual departments.
The mandate of the Department of Justice Canada derives from the dual role of
the “Minister”:
- in support of the Minister of Justice, the Department is responsible for
providing policy and program advice and direction through the development of
the legal content of bills, regulations and guidelines;
- in support of the Attorney General, the Department is responsible for
prosecuting federal offences across Canada, including drug offences,
litigating civil cases by or on behalf of the federal Crown, and for providing
legal advice to federal law enforcement agencies and other government
departments and agencies.
To carry out this mandate, the Department of Justice Canada (“Justice
Canada”)
relies on in-house counsel as well as private sector lawyers, both domestic
and international, referred to as legal agents. There are two main categories of
legal agents:
- standing
legal agents, who are appointed for an indefinite period of
time to conduct work of a specific nature on an as needed basis; and,
- ad hoc
legal agents who are retained to provide services with respect
to a specific case/piece of work, or aspect of a case/piece of work.
Contracting for Legal Services
The Government Contracts Regulations
establishes a condition and/or limitations for entering into contracts for legal
services. Pursuant to section 3 and 4, the Regulations do not apply to
contracts for legal services and contracts for the performance of legal services
may be entered into only by or under the authority of the Minister of Justice
and Attorney General of Canada.
Generally, engagements in respect of the following types of activities are
considered to be “legal services”:
provision of legal advice and opinions;
conduct of civil litigation and criminal prosecutions;
dispute resolution;
legislative and regulatory drafting; and,
Negotiation and drafting of other legal documents such as contracts,
agreements, etc.
Justice Canada invites you to respond to this EOI for the services described
herein.
This EOI is a request for information only. Through this EOI process, Justice
Canada intends to identify qualified and interested law firms (“firms”) to be
included on an eligibility list for possible recommendation and consideration
for appointment as Legal Agents of the Attorney General of Canada.
This EOI does not imply either a commitment by Justice Canada to proceed
with, continue or complete this or any other similar process. Justice Canada
reserves the right, to reject any or all proposals received in response to this
EOI.
This EOI is not a request for or an authorization to perform any work. Any
costs of replying to this EOI will be at your own expense.
Justice Canada is subject to the Access to Information Act and the
Privacy Act and as such all information submitted pursuant to this EOI will
become the property of Justice Canada . All information received will be held in
confidence by Justice Canada , subject to the disclosure provisions of the
Access to Information and Privacy legislation.
2. SCOPE
Justice Canada invites Expressions of Interest from interested firms with
demonstrated competence and ability to comply with qualifying criteria.
Nothing in this EOI creates an exclusive arrangement between Justice Canada
and any firm.
3. BACKGROUND
Justice Canada defines its overall goals to be the effective, efficient and
economical delivery of legal services to the Government as a whole. The
Department of Justice relies on in-house counsel as well as legal agents to
deliver these services.
Justice Canada expects its legal agents to align themselves with these goals
and to commit to devoting their time and resources to best represent the
government of Canada by providing high-quality, cost effective and
results-oriented legal services.
Justice Canada’s legal work gives counsel the opportunity to apply
specialized training, skills and expertise in regard to areas of practice, which
are not limited to but include:
- Aboriginal Law
- Access to Information and Privacy Law
- Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law
- Class Actions
- Constitutional Law / Charter issues
- Competition Law
- Commissions of Inquiry
- Corporate /Commercial Law
- Employment Law / Staff Relations
- General Civil Litigation / Judicial Reviews
- Human Rights Law
- Immigration and Public Safety
- Intellectual Property Law
- Labour Law
- Maritime Law
- Property Law / Land Transactions and Title Searches
- Tax Litigation
- Tort / Civil Liability
4. EOI REVIEW PROCESS
The information provided in your response to this EOI will be used to place
your firm on an eligibility list for possible recommendation and consideration
for appointment as Legal Agent of the Attorney General and may serve as a
foundation for further screening and evaluation as dictated by operational
needs.
The information provided in your response will help Justice Canada officials
assess your firm’s:
- Willingness and ability to devote time and resources to best represent the
interests of the Government of Canada;
- Willingness and ability to provide high-quality legal services;
- Ability to provide cost-effective legal servicesand
- Commitment to the effective use of technology and willingness to
participate in innovative file management initiatives.
5. KEY PROVISIONS
Justice Canada requires loyal and dedicated legal teams that are willing to
devote their time and resources to best represent the interests of the
government of Canada and its client departments and agencies.
It is Justice Canada’s expectation that all counsel on the legal team will
have the level of competence in handling litigation work or providing legal
services commensurate with their experience and the type and complexity of file
or file activity.
Justice Canada expects legal agents to be fiscally responsible and follow
recommended and cost-conscious file handling practices; and, comply fully with
administrative provisions, billing guidelines and fee and disbursement policies.
Justice Canada is increasing its use of web-based technology for business and
communication purposes, including account review and in due course payment
automation. It is anticipated that e-business capabilities will be a
requirement.
Every team member (both counsel and legal assistants for whose work counsel
is responsible) is expected to strive to contribute significantly to excellent
results. Effectively measuring those results presents an on-going challenge.
Results may be based on many factors outside of counsel’s control.
It is Justice Canada’s expectation that firms expressing an interest in being
considered for legal agent appointment, must at a minimum be willing to commit
to ensuring:
- that law-practice insurance is carried in the
province(s) or territory(ies) in which the firms conduct their practice, in
compliance with the requirements of the relevant law society(ies) or bar
association(s);
- compliance with the federal government’s conflict of
interest guidelines, which seek to ensure that contracts with the private
sector meet the highest ethical standards;
- that each member of a legal team, be members in good
standing of a provincial or territorial bar;
- that each member of the legal team and all members of
their staff who will require access to documents relating to work assigned
will be in compliance with the requirements pertaining to a reliability status
type security screening;
- that each member of the legal team and all members of
their staff are in compliance with the requirements outlined in the
Civil Terms and Conditions of Appointment document which outlines the
relationship between a legal agent and the Department of Justice, policy
obligations, and, expectations as to case management practices as well as
administrative provisions; and,
- compliance with technology standards as defined by
Justice Canada.
Where applicable, prior to and throughout the appointment as legal agent,
Justice Canada may require firms to substantiate compliance with the above key
provisions.
6. RESPONSE NOTIFICATION FORM
To acknowledge your interest and intent to respond to this expression of
interest, and to receive further information, a
Response Notification Form,
must be completed and submitted. Only one Response Notification form
should be submitted per law firm. Law firms with multiple offices and multiple
locations must coordinate their submission through one central contract.
Upon receipt of a compliant Response Notification Form, the instructions and
tools required to formulate and submit an Expression of Interest will be
forwarded to you.
In completing and submitting the Response Notification Form, you will be
required to:
- identify the name of your firm and provide tombstone information;
- identify the name of an individual that will act as a principal contact
throughout the Expression of Interest process.
- Identify the name of the managing partner and provide appropriate
signature confirming your firm’s intent to respond;
- confirm compliance with minimal requirements as identified on Schedule
A of the form;
- identify practice area(s) of interest on Schedule B of the Form by
selecting from the list provided or by typing in free text where necessary;
- identify the name of the counsel who would lead the legal team for each
of the identified practice areas of interest, providing the relevant year of
call to the Bar; and,
- provide a current curriculum vitae for each identified counsel and a
firm profile if applicable.
The Form is available in Adobe portable document format
(.pdf) which facilitates electronic completion and printing for hard copy mail
in. You will require Adobe Acrobat Reader 7 to complete the form. If you do not
already have Acrobat Reader 7 on your desktop, it is available for download,
free of charge, at http://www.adobe.com/reader/.
If you choose not to use the attached Response Notification Form, your
response should be concise and organised in conformity with and in the same
sequence as the prescribed Response Form.
We ask that you provide three (3) copies of your completed response form, in
three hole punched format. Please ensure that all required curricula vitae and
firm profiles are attached to your response.
Completed packages must be mailed to:
Litigation Practice Management Centre
Civil Litigation Branch
Department of Justice Canada
234 Wellington Street, East Tower Room 1204
Ottawa, ON K1A 0H8
Please ensure that the EOI is referenced on the front of the envelope.
7. FURTHER INFORMATION
Questions about the content of this document or the EOI process should be
submitted in writing to:
Nicolas Neveu
Contracting Forms and Materiel Operations
Fax: 613-990-8197
E-mail: Nicolas.neveu@justice.g.c.ca
