§ 37-2-70. Professional services — Legal.
(a) Before a state governmental entity procures the services of an attorney, a state agency shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the chief purchasing officer or a public agency shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the directors of the public agency the following:
(1) The need for the services, including the scope of the services to be performed;
(2) That no legal personnel employed by the state on a full-time basis is available to perform those services;
(3) That funding is available, indicating from which sources the funding is to be provided;
(4) That attorneys to be engaged meet the following minimum requirements:
(i) Appropriate professional licensing;
(ii) Competence to perform those services as reflected by formal training and education, general experience, experience in providing the required services, and the qualifications and competence of persons who would be assigned to perform the services; and
(iii) Ability to perform the services as reflected by workload and availability of adequate personnel, equipment, and facilities to perform the services expeditiously.
(b) The attorney shall enter into a letter of engagement with the state. The letter of engagement shall state the rate of compensation, the scope of the services to be performed for the compensation, and provision for the payment of expenses incurred in connection with legal services. The letter of engagement shall certify that the rate of compensation does not exceed the rate of compensation charged by counsel to his or her preferred public or private clients. A letter of engagement shall not be for more than one year.
(c) Nothing herein shall prevent the issuance of a public solicitation of requests for qualifications or the conduct of pricing negotiations prior to contract award. All requests for qualifications shall be solicited through utilization of the Rhode Island vendor information program (RIVIP) as set forth in § 37-2-17.1.
(d) Each state department and each state government entity which procures the services of an attorney who is not an employee of that department or body shall, on or before March 1 of each year, prepare and submit to the director of the department of administration an annual report of outside legal services, which report shall identify and set forth:
(i) The name, firm, affiliation, and address of each attorney or law firm retained by the department or entity during the previous calendar year and/or of each attorney or law firm to whom the department or entity paid any fees or other payments during the previous calendar year;
(ii) The amount of all fees or other payments from public funds made by the department or entity to any such attorney or law firm during the previous calendar year.
(e) The director of the department of administration shall annually compile all annual reports of outside legal services and present them, together with an executive summary thereof, to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, and the chairpersons of the senate and house committees on finance, not later than May 1 of each year.
History of Section.P.L. 1989, ch. 526, § 2; P.L. 1999, ch. 367, § 1; P.L. 2007, ch. 422, § 1.
Structure Rhode Island General Laws
Title 37 - Public Property and Works
Chapter 37-2 - State Purchases
Section 37-2-1. - Purchasing agent — Appointment — Duties.
Section 37-2-2. - General provisions.
Section 37-2-3. - Supplemental general principles of law — Obligation of good faith.
Section 37-2-4. - Applicability.
Section 37-2-5. - Severability — Construction against implicit repealer.
Section 37-2-6. - Determinations.
Section 37-2-7. - Definitions.
Section 37-2-8. - Rhode Island foodstuffs.
Section 37-2-9. - Authority and duties of the chief purchasing officer.
Section 37-2-9.1. - Bidder registration fee.
Section 37-2-10. - Distribution of procurement activities.
Section 37-2-11. - Authority and duties of the purchasing agent.
Section 37-2-12. - Centralization of the procurement authority.
Section 37-2-13. - Procurement regulations.
Section 37-2-13.1. - Procurement regulations — Request for proposal.
Section 37-2-14. - Relationship with user agencies.
Section 37-2-15. - Source selection and contract formation — Statutory provisions.
Section 37-2-16. - [Reserved.]
Section 37-2-17. - Method of source selection.
Section 37-2-17.1. - Rhode Island vendor information program (RIVIP).
Section 37-2-18. - Competitive sealed bidding.
Section 37-2-18.1. - Reverse auctions.
Section 37-2-18.2. - Exemption from competitive bidding.
Section 37-2-19. - Competitive negotiation.
Section 37-2-20. - Negotiations after unsuccessful competitive sealed bidding.
Section 37-2-21. - Noncompetitive procurements.
Section 37-2-22. - Small purchases.
Section 37-2-23. - Cancellation of invitation for bids and requests for proposals.
Section 37-2-24. - Responsibilities of bidders and offerors.
Section 37-2-25. - Prequalification of contractors — General.
Section 37-2-25.1. - Prequalification of vendors for electronic reverse auctions.
Section 37-2-26. - Prequalification of contractors — Roads — Department of transportation.
Section 37-2-27. - Prequalification — Construction management.
Section 37-2-27.1. - Procurement of construction manager at-risk services — Written determination.
Section 37-2-27.2. - Procurement of construction manager at-risk services — Owner’s program manager.
Section 37-2-27.4. - Procurement of construction manager at-risk services — Bidding of subcontracts.
Section 37-2-27.5. - Procurement of construction manager at-risk services — Public records.
Section 37-2-28. - Cost or pricing data.
Section 37-2-29. - Cost plus a percentage of cost.
Section 37-2-30. - Cost reimbursement contracts.
Section 37-2-31. - Use of other types of contracts.
Section 37-2-32. - Approval of accounting system.
Section 37-2-33. - Multi-year contracts.
Section 37-2-34. - Right to inspect facilities — Right to audit.
Section 37-2-35. - Finality of determinations.
Section 37-2-36. - Reporting of suspected collusive bidding or negotiations.
Section 37-2-37. - Report of procurement actions taken under §§ 37-2-21 and 37-2-22.
Section 37-2-38. - Issuance of specifications.
Section 37-2-38.1. - Certification by building commissioner.
Section 37-2-39. - Responsibility for selection of methods of construction contracting management.
Section 37-2-40. - Bid security.
Section 37-2-41. - Contractors’ bonds.
Section 37-2-42. - Price adjustments.
Section 37-2-43. - Contract clauses and their administration.
Section 37-2-44. - Cost and pricing principles — Regulations required.
Section 37-2-45. - Supply disposition process.
Section 37-2-46. - Authority to resolve contract and breach of contract controversies.
Section 37-2-47. - Failure to render timely decisions.
Section 37-2-48. - Arbitration.
Section 37-2-49. - Disputes and appeals procedure.
Section 37-2-50. - Settlement of dispute.
Section 37-2-51. - Decision presumed to be correct.
Section 37-2-52. - Authority to resolve protests.
Section 37-2-53. - Written determination for continuation of the procurement.
Section 37-2-54. - Chief purchasing officer — Purchases.
Section 37-2-55. - Imprest fund.
Section 37-2-56. - Purchasing for municipalities and regional school districts.
Section 37-2-56.1. - Repealed.
Section 37-2-58. - Review of threshold amounts.
Section 37-2-59.1. - Selection of professionals with place of business located in Rhode Island.
Section 37-2-61. - Solicitation.
Section 37-2-62. - Evaluation of qualifications and performance data.
Section 37-2-64. - Professional services — Architectural and engineering services — Public agency.
Section 37-2-66. - Solicitation — Public agency.
Section 37-2-67. - Evaluation of qualifications and performance data.
Section 37-2-68. - Final selection — Public agency — Directors.
Section 37-2-70. - Professional services — Legal.
Section 37-2-72. - Professional services — Medical and dental consultant services.
Section 37-2-74. - Printing, binding, advertising, and election expenses.
Section 37-2-75. - Prohibition against the use of lead based paints.
Section 37-2-76. - State purchase of recycled products.
Section 37-2-76.1. - Additional definitions.
Section 37-2-77. - International Trade Agreements — Procurement rules — General Assembly approval.
Section 37-2-78. - Severability.
Section 37-2-79. - Establishment of the Rhode Island Strategic Purchasing Advisory Commission.
Section 37-2-80. - Selection of vendors and services with place of business located in Rhode Island.