Outside Legal Counsel

The Columbus City Attorney’s Office is seeking Statements of Qualifications, through this Request for Statements of Qualifications (RFSQ), from qualified legal professionals to create a Qualified Suppliers List and contract(s) to serve as Outside Legal Counsel and to provide related legal services to the City of Columbus, Ohio (“City”).

The City Attorney is seeking a pool of attorneys and law firms to be available to serve as Outside Legal Counsel on an as-needed basis for matters requiring specialized legal expertise, complex legal or litigation matters, and when separate representation is required due to a potential or actual conflict of interest under the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct. If the matter involves litigation, most cases will be in Ohio federal and state courts.

The City Attorney is seeking Statements of Qualifications from qualified attorneys and law firms to provide legal services to the City on an as-needed basis. The City will accomplish this through signing contracts with various respondents, creating a Qualified Suppliers List. It is **required** that all attorneys be licensed to practice law before the federal and state courts of Ohio and be in good standing with the Supreme Court of Ohio.

Representation at a $275.00 blended rate per hour:

1. 42 USC §1983 actions in federal court defending City employees including police officers
2. Representation of the City and its employees on state law tort claims
3. Representation of the City in labor matters including arbitrations
4. Representation of the City in employment law matters and litigation
5. Ohio municipal law
6. Bankruptcy counsel
7. Construction law matters and litigation

Representation at a $350.00 blended rate per hour:

1. Tax law compliance matters
2. Real estate and eminent domain matters
3. Economic development
4. Copyright and intellectual property matters
5. Environmental compliance
6. Energy purchase agreements
7. Complex federal regulatory compliance matters

Legal work may include drafting complex contracts and rendering legal opinions to the City interpreting the Columbus City Charter, Columbus City Codes, and/or other state and federal statutory and regulatory requirements.

Litigation may include drafting pleadings, motions, briefs, and all other papers to be filed in court; conducting and responding to discovery; attending all pre-trial, trial, and post-trial court appearances; conducting settlement negotiations, and handling appeals.

Outside Legal Counsel will be required to submit quarterly reports to the City Attorney’s designee summarizing the status of all assigned matters in process. Outside Legal Counsel will also be required to submit a list of all open matters [...] on a monthly basis, along with its monthly billing including detailed invoices.

**Submission method:** Bonfire portal at https://columbus.bonfirehub.com/opportunities/256651. Statements of Qualifications are due **Friday, November 20, 2026**.

Statements of Qualifications will be evaluated based on the answers to the questions in Section 4 based on the following factors:

• Competence (**35 points**)
• Ability (**15 points**)
• Past Performance (**35 points**)

It is the intention that the City Attorney will award multiple contracts for each legal subject matter in Sections 2.1(A) and (B). A sample contract is included as *Attachment A*. Provide three completed *Performance Questionnaires* (*Attachment B*).

The City Attorney intends to award the award the contracts within 180 days of the issuance of the RFSQ.

Presentations may be requested from Monday, January 11, 2027 through Friday, January 22, 2027.