CITY OF EDMONDS REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS FOR PUBLIC DEFENSE ATTORNEYS. The City of Edmonds ( City ), Washington, is requesting proposals from well

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1 CITY OF EDMONDS REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS FOR PUBLIC DEFENSE ATTORNEYS The City of Edmonds ( City ), Washington, is requesting proposals from well qualified attorneys interested in providing legal representation to indigent defendants answering criminal charges filed in Edmonds Municipal Court. DESCRIPTION The City of Edmonds is hiring a law firm to provide legal representation to approximately 800 clients charged with misdemeanors, gross misdemeanors and probation violations in Edmonds Municipal Court. The qualifying firm must also provide legal advice to defendants appearing on arraignment calendars, now held every Monday afternoon and Thursday morning. The court also conducts motions calendars every Wednesday and jury trials now set on alternate Fridays or whenever court is scheduled. The firm must also have an attorney available 24 hours a day to respond to calls from defendants arrested or under investigation by the City of Edmonds Police. Court dates and times may change over the course of the Contract for Public Defense Services. The Contract will be for a period of 3 year(s) with a possible extension of up to an additional three years. The Edmonds Municipal Court is located within the Maxwell McGuiness Public Safety building and shares the courtroom with the City Council. Staffing in the Municipal Court consists of a Court Administrator and five full-time equivalent court clerks one full time probation officer.

2 In 2013, the City of Edmonds filed 1,336 criminal cases and approximately 800 of the defendants charged were assigned a public defender. Current and historical caseloads can be found at Prosecution for the City is provided by the firm of Zachor & Thomas, Inc., P.S. The successful law firm must comply with the Standards for Indigent Defense Systems adopted by the Washington Supreme Court and the Washington State Bar Association Performance Guidelines for Criminal Defense Representation and the Rules of Professional Conduct. The City will require the qualifying firm to report monthly on the following: 1. The names of defendants to which the firm was appointed during the reporting period, the charges, and the associated case numbers; 2. The date of appointment; 3. The case weight assigned to the case if a case weighting system has been approved and implemented; 4. The number of appellate level cases pending; 5. Copies of the most recent Indigent Defense Standards Certifications filed with the Court by each attorney providing services; 6. Information on the firm s caseload distribution; 7. Information on the firm s case supervision; 8. The number of pending trials and the type(s) of charges to be addressed in each; 9. The number of substantive motions undertaken; 10. The number of hours spent by each attorney on each of their cases; 11. Information on the use of investigators; 12. Information on consultations with the Immigration and Naturalization Service; and 13. Information on the disposition of concluded cases. The form of the reports will be negotiated between the City and successful applicant.

3 QUALIFICATIONS Education and Experience: Attorneys representing clients charged in Edmonds Municipal Court must satisfy the minimum requirements for practicing law in Washington as determined by the Washington Supreme Court; be familiar with the statutes, court rules, constitutional provisions and case law relevant to defense of misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor charges, the Rules of Professional Conduct, the Performance Guidelines approved by the Washington State Bar Association, the consequences of a conviction, including possible immigration consequences, mental health issues and when it appropriate to apply for expert services. Attorneys must also complete a minimum of seven [10] hours of continuing education within each calendar year in courses related to their public defense practice. An attorney representing a client on appeal to Superior Court should have had significant training or experience in either criminal appeals, criminal motions practice, extensive trial level briefing, clerking for an appellate judge or assisting a more experience attorney in preparing and arguing an appeal from a court of limited jurisdiction. Necessary Knowledge, Skills and Abilities: Considerable knowledge of the Washington State Bar Association Performance Guidelines for Criminal Defense; considerable knowledge of the Criminal Rules for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction and the Washington Rules of Evidence; working knowledge of criminal law and the Edmunds Municipal Code, ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing; ability to establish and maintain effective working

4 relationships with clients and to maintain professional relationships with Municipal Judge, City Administration, City Council, City Prosecutor, Police Department, Public Defender, Court staff, and the general public. COMPENSATION The City will enter into a legal services agreement which will address compensation, the terms of which will be negotiated. This position is not eligible for medical, dental and vision insurance benefits and is not covered under the state the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS). SELECTION PROCESS The Mayor and/or designees will review all proposals. Finalists will be invited for interviews. The selected candidate shall be appointed by the Mayor. The appointment is subject to confirmation by the city council. REFERENCE CHECKS The City will review any files maintained by the Washington State Bar Association or any state or federal bar association to which the attorneys who will be providing public defense services have belonged as well as conduct reference checks.

5 INSTRUCTIONS TO REPLY TO THIS REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS To reply to the RFQ, please submit the following: (1) resume; (2) cover letter and statement of qualifications, which must include Washington State Bar Numbers for all attorneys responding to this RFQ; (3) a solely authored writing for each attorney in the firm who will be providing public defense services; (4) a release allowing the City of Edmonds access to all WSBA disciplinary investigations and/or actions; and (5) answers to the attached Questionnaire. All materials shall be submitted in one packet and provided to the Human Resources Manager. ALL APPLICATION MATERIALS SHALL BE SUBMITTED BY: Wednesday, July 22, 2015 no later than 4:30 pm. Upon the City s discretion, proposals submitted after the due date and time may be considered. Persons responding to this RFQ accept all risks of late delivery of mailed proposals regardless of fault.

6 City of Edmonds Application to Provide Public Defense Services 1. Personal Information Last Name First Name Middle Name WSBA Bar Number 2. Business Address: Firm Name Street or P.O. Box City State Zip Business Phone No. After-hours/direct dial: Work address: 3. Home Address: Street or P.O. Box City State Zip Home Phone No. Mobile Phone No.: Home address: Professional History This following portions of this application should be completed for each attorney who will be providing public defense services. 4. Year admitted to practice law in Washington: 5. Employment History (starting with the most current) Please include all employment as an attorney and any nonlegal work that you consider relevant to providing public

7 defense: Start and End Dates Organization, its address and phone number: Position/Title: Supervisor: Description of your practice, including frequency of court appearances: Reason for leaving: 6. Please list all courts and jurisdictions in which you have been admitted to practice law and the dates of admission. Please provide the same information for administrative bodies having special admission requirements. 7. Please list all bar associations, professional societies and any organization which you feel is relevant to the provision of public defense services of which you are a member and give the titles and dates of any offices that you have held in such groups. 8 Are you in good standing in every bar association of which you are a member? Yes/No. If you answered no, please explain. 9. If you have ever been a judge, please identify any court committees on which you have served or administrative positions you have held. Please state the dates of service for each. 10. Please list up to five of your most significant professional accomplishments. This may include legal cases, access to justice issues or work related to criminal defense. (If applicable, please provide the case and court name and the citation if a case was reported and copy of the opinion.) 11. Please summarize up to four of the most significant matters that you participated in as a Educational Background 12. Please list all undergraduate and graduate (non-law school) colleges and universities attended, years of attendance, degree awarded and reason for leaving if no degree was awarded. College/University Dates of Attendance Degree College/University Dates of Attendance Degree 13. Please list all law schools attended, years of attendance, degree awarded and reason for leaving if no degree was awarded.

8 Law School Dates of Attendance Degree Law School Dates of Attendance Degree Professional Experience 14. Please summarize, briefly, the general nature of your current law practice and, if a member of a firm, the firm s practice. Washington Supreme Court Standard 3.3 requires attorneys who maintain a private practice in addition to a public defense practice public defense caseloads should be based on the percentage of time a lawyer devotes to public defense. If your practice includes both public defense work and private clients please describe how attorney time will be allocated and how it will be monitored to maintain compliance with Standard If your present law practice is different from any previous practice, please describe the earlier practice, including the nature of your typical clients and any area of special emphasis within your practice. 16. Please provide the number of jury trials and the number of bench trials in the past five years in which you were sole or lead counsel. Indicate whether they were civil or criminal trials and whether they were in federal, state or municipal or district court. 17. Within the last five years, did you appear in trial court: Regularly Occasionally Infrequently 18. Within the last five years, did you prepare appellate briefs and appear before appellate courts: Regularly Occasionally Infrequently 19. Within the last five years, how often did you appear in the court for which you are applying: Regularly Occasionally Infrequently 20. Career Experience (a) What percentage of your appearances in the last five years was in: (1) Federal appellate courts % (2) Federal trial courts % (3) State appellate courts % (4) State trial courts % (5) Municipal courts % (6) District courts %

9 (7) Administrative tribunals % (8) Tribal courts % (9) Other % TOTAL 100% (b) What percentage of your practice in the last five years was: (1) Civil litigation % (excl. family law) (2) Criminal litigation % (3) Family law litigation % (4) Non-litigation % TOTAL 100% (c) What percentage of your trials in the last five years were: (1) Jury trials % (2) Non-jury trials % TOTAL 100% (d) Briefly describe no more than five significant litigation matters that you directly handled as the sole counsel. For each, please provide the date of the litigation, the name and telephone number of opposing counsel, the name of the judge or other judicial officer, and the citation (if applicable). 22. Please briefly describe any legal non-litigation experience that you feel enhances your qualifications to provide public defense services.

10 22. If you are now an officer or director of any business organization or otherwise engaged in the management of any business enterprises, please provide the following: the name of the enterprise, the nature of the business, the title of your position, the nature of your duties, and the term of your service. If you are appointed and do not intend to resign such position(s), please state this below along with your reasons for not resigning. 23. Please list all chairmanships of major committees in bar associations and professional societies and memberships on any committees that you have held and are of significance to you. Standards for Indigent Defense 24. Standard for Indigent Defense 3.3 General Considerations, adopted by the Supreme Court of Washington, adopted caseload standards that assume fully supported attorneys Standard 5.2 identifies costs associated with public defense representation. Please describe the resources in your office that will be used to fully support attorneys providing public defense services in Edmonds Municipal Court. 25. The City of Edmonds will require its public defense office to regularly report information demonstrating that its public defender is complying with the Standards adopted by the Washington Supreme Court and the Performance Guidelines for Criminal Defense Representation approved by the Washington State Bar Association. Such information will include, among other things, the number of cases assigned to an attorney during the year, attorney and staff hours worked on each case, the number of jury trials, substantive motions, and times an investigator or an interpreter was used to assist in the representation provided. Please describe your firm s capacity to provide this information. 26. Standard 6.1 provides that Public defense attorneys shall use investigation services as appropriate. What do you think is the best manner in which investigative services shall be made available? Would you recommend a staff investigator be employed in your office? A panel to which attorneys can apply? What has been your previous experience working with and obtaining the services of an investigator? 28. Performance Guideline 1.4 provides that The attorney shall make contact with the client at the earliest possible time. If the client is in custody, contact should be within 24 hours of appointment and shall be no more than 48 hours unless there is an unavoidable extenuating circumstance. Please describe how your firm would be able to meet this Guideline. 29. Please describe the procedure used by your office to check for conflicts.

11 Community and Civic Activities 30. Please list your community and civic activities, including dates and leadership roles held, over the last 10 years. Discipline and Disputes 31. Have you ever been held, arrested, charged or convicted by federal, state, or other law enforcement authorities for violation of any federal law, state law, county or municipal law, regulation or ordinance? Yes/No. If you answered yes, please provide details. (Do not include traffic violations for which a fine of $ or less was imposed.) Please feel free to provide your view of how it bears on your ability to provide effective public defense services. 32. Has a client ever made a claim or suit against you for malpractice? Yes/No. If you answered yes, please provide details and the current status of the claim and/or suit. 33. Have you been a party in interest, witness, or consultant in any legal proceeding? Yes/No. If you answered yes, please provide details. Do not list proceedings in which you were merely a guardian ad litem or stakeholder. 34. Have you ever been the subject of a complaint to any bar association, disciplinary committee, court, administrative agency or other professional group? Yes/No. If you answered yes, please provide details. 35. Have you ever been disciplined or cited for breach of ethics or unprofessional conduct? Yes/No. If you answered yes, please provide details. 36. If you have served as a judge, commissioner, or in any judicial capacity, has a complaint for misconduct in that capacity ever been made against you? Yes/No. If you answered yes, please provide details. 37. Have you ever been found ineffective or to have provided ineffective assistance of counsel by any court? Yes/No. If you answered yes please provide details.

12 38. Have you published any books or articles in the field of law? If so, please list them, giving the citations and dates. Also, please give the dates and forums of any Continuing Legal Education presentations that you have made. 39. Please list any honors, prizes, awards or other forms of recognition that you have received and whether they were professional or civic in nature. 40. Please provide a writing sample of your work (between five and 10 pages long), written and edited solely by you, within the last four years Training 41. Describe the training of attorneys in your office who will be representing clients in Edmonds Municipal Court. Please provide a copy of any training materials or manuals given to new employees about public defense practice. Please specify any training related to the requirements of Standard 14.1(E) and (F) that an attorney be familiar with the consequences of a conviction, including immigration consequences and familiar with mental health issues and Standard 14.3 relating to appeals to superior court from courts of limited jurisdiction. References It is useful for evaluators to speak with attorneys and non-attorneys who are familiar with you. One or more participants in the evaluation process may contact each of your references. All telephone numbers should be current and legible. If a reference is unreachable, your rating/evaluation may be delayed. Please use a separate piece of paper for each list. You may contact references in advance if you so desire. Individuals not listed by you as a reference may be contacted to obtain information about you. 42. If you have been in practice within the past 15 years, list the names and phone numbers of five opposing counsels who know you best, including at least three opposing counsels on cases that went to trial. 43. If you have been a judge or otherwise have served as a neutral decision-maker within the past 15 years, please list the names and phone numbers of the last five attorneys who have appeared before you.

13 44. List the names and phone numbers of up to four non-attorney references whose opinions or observations particularly with respect to your commitment to improving access to the judicial system for indigent populations, people of color, and disenfranchised communities would assist in the consideration of your application. 45. List the names and phone numbers of four additional attorneys familiar with your professional qualifications, skills, experience or attributes. 46. Certification By signing below, I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Washington that the information provided by me in responding to this questionnaire is true and correct to the best of my knowledge. Date: Signature: RELEASE OF INFORMATION I hereby give the City of Edmonds the right to investigate my past employment, education and activities. I release from all liability all persons, companies and corporations who supply such information. I understand that any omission of facts, misrepresentation of statements or implications I might make in this application or in any other required documents shall be considered sufficient cause to deny appointment. I also understand that nothing contained in this application or in the granting of an interview is intended to imply an appointment by the City of Edmonds. I have received no promises regarding appointment and I understand that no such promise or guarantee is binding on the City of Edmonds unless made in writing. Signature Date

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