26-117 - RFP for Employment Litigation Claims 2026

CITY OF CLIFTON
DEPARTMENT OF PURCHASING
26-117 - SPECIAL COUNSEL FOR EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION
CLAIMS
FOR
THE CITY OF CLIFTON
2026 - 2027

NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR FAIR AND OPEN PROPOSAL
Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 19:44A-20.4 et seq., the City of Clifton is soliciting Fair and Open Proposals
for Special Counsel for Employment Litigation Claims for a contract period of one (1) year
from date of contract execution. Proposals shall be endorsed "Special Counsel for Employment
Litigation Claims" and delivered to Purchasing Agent Amisha Jariwala, City of Clifton, 900
Clifton Avenue, Clifton, New Jersey 07013.
Due Date: April 30, 2026 at 11:00 AM
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CITY OF CLIFTON
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
SPECIAL COUNSEL FOR EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION CLAIMS
The City of Clifton is soliciting a Request for Proposal ("RFP") to provide Special Counsel
services for Employment Litigation Claims on behalf of the City, as directed by the Municipal
Attorney or designee thereof, for a contract period of one (1) year from date of contract
execution. All candidates are required to comply with N.J.S.A. 10:5-31, et seq. and N.J.A.C.
17:27 as amended (Affirmative Action).
I - GENERAL
The City of Clifton seeks a private attorney or law firm (Respondent) licensed to practice law
in New Jersey State in order to provide a wide variety of professional legal services related to
employment law and human resources including employment litigation claims as may arise
during the year or are ongoing from the prior year(s).
The Respondent will provide support to the Municipal Attorney or designee thereof and the
Director of Personnel, if so directed by the Municipal Attorney or designee thereof. The
Respondent will represent the City of Clifton in certain legal affairs through a cost-effective
commitment to service with the latest innovations in the practice of employment litigation law.
All questions relating to the RFP shall be submitted in writing to City of Clifton Purchasing Agent,
Amisha Jariwala, via email to: ajariwala@cliftonnj.org, no later than 3:00 PM on April 23, 2026.
Any questions, which in the opinion of the City warrant a return reply or an amendment to the
RFP, will be furnished to all parties not less than seven (7) business days prior to receipt of
Proposals.
Proposals shall be received no later than 11:00 AM on April 30, 2026, and must be made on
the basis that they either meet or exceed the requirements contained herein.
II - SCOPE OF SERVICES
The Special Counsel for Employment Litigation Claims shall provide advice and legal
representation in connection with employment litigation, including but not limited to
employment discrimination (based on disability, age, race, religion, or sex), wrongful
termination, discriminatory harassment, sexual harassment, CEPA claims, LAD claims, family
and medical leaves claims, retaliation claims, and severance agreements.
Firm shall file all necessary pleadings and documents with the appropriate Courts and/or
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administrative agencies, in matters for which the firm has been retained. Work 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; and
handling appeals.
Respondent must also have resources sufficient to advance all costs.
Respondent must also be free of any conflict of interest and must comply with the conflicts
policy referred to in section III.k below.
III - MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
Listed below are the minimum requirements necessary to be considered for this proposal:
a) At a minimum, the Respondent shall have five (5) consecutive years' experience with
Employment Litigation matters, representing a municipality or other public entity.
b) . Must have a minimum of five (5) years' experience in representing municipal
entities in defense of employment litigation claims, including Civil Service
jurisdictions.
c) Respondents must demonstrate knowledge of, The New Jersey Law Against
Discrimination ("NJLAD"); The New Jersey Civil Rights Act ("NJCRA"); federal LAD
and CRA claims, Disability Act (TDI); The Family Leave Act ("NJFLA") and New
Jersey Family Leave Insurance (FLI); New Jersey and Federal Conscientious Employee
Protection Act claims ("CEPA"), and related claims.
d) The Respondent must maintain a bona fide office in the State of New Jersey. Please
list the firm's office address on the proposal signature form enclosed herein.
e) The Respondent must currently, or as recently as the last three (3) years, represent at
least three (3) public entities in matters of employment litigation claims, with at least
one (1) public entities of similar size to the City of Clifton, preferably Civil Service
jurisdictions.
f) The Respondent must list past and present public entities it represents in employment
litigation claims.
g) The Respondent must identify the attorney(s) and support staff that will be assigned
to the account for the defense of the employment litigation claims and their experience
in handling such actions and the outcomes of the actions that they handled.
h) The Respondent must maintain an office within a reasonable distance to the City of
Clifton.
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i) The Respondent must be licensed to practice law in the State of New Jersey and
appear before all state and federal and administrative courts of the State of New Jersey
for a period of not less than ten (10) years preceding appointment.
j) The Respondent must have sufficient staff to perform the services set forth in the Scope
of Services in this RFP.
k) The Respondent must not have represented or is not currently representing a client
whose interests are adverse to those of the City of Clifton, thereby creating a conflict of
interest and the period of time covered by this restriction is five years prior to the date
of the proposal submitted in response to this RFP.
l) The Respondent must maintain professional liability insurance in the minimum
amount of One Million Dollars per occurrence (One million aggregate).
IV - PROFESSIONAL INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS
The Respondent:
1. Shall provide Name, Federal I.D. number, address, phone and fax numbers of
the firm submitting the proposal and a brief description of legal background such
as years in business, size of staff and any affiliations.
2. Shall provide Name, title and address of principal/individual preparing this
response and the contact person for the RFP.
3. Shall provide Name, title, address and phone number of individual(s) to be
assigned as the Employment Litigation Counsel for the City.
4. Shall describe the professional achievements of the firm and the principal who
would be assigned to the City of Clifton as its account consultant such as
educational background, licenses, number of clients handled and number of
years as an employment litigation attorney. Resumes or summarized
credentials are too be attached.
5. Shall provide a list of New Jersey public sector entities for which the firm has
provided similar services to those contained herein, including the name, title
and phone number of the appropriate contact person within the entity.
6. All respondents must be partners, owners or employees of the firm.
7. Respondents must provide a comprehensive schedule of proposed fees and
hourly rates for partners and associates of the firm.
8. The Respondent may submit any supplemental information it deems important
to the evaluation of this proposal and the reason why it should be considered in
the overall evaluation of the proposal.
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V - COMPENSATION
1) Payment to the successful Respondent shall be based on the hourly rates with
monthly invoices submitted to the City broken down by tenths of hours.
2) All expenses and fees other than compensation as set forth above shall be actual out-of-
pocket expenses incurred by the Respondent without any additions for overhead, etc. No
additional charges will be billed for fax transmissions or online research fees and copy costs
will be billed at 15 cents per page.
3) Hourly rates for paralegal services are not permitted.
4) The Firm's fees shall be paid after receipt of a proper invoice and executed payment voucher.
5) The Firm shall not accept any compensation for related City activities from any
source other than the fee paid by the City of Clifton.
VI - CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS
1) The term of this agreement is to be a period of one (1) year from date of contract
execution.
2) Respondent's proposal shall remain valid for a period of ninety (90) days after submission and
will be considered as a binding offer to perform the required services.
3) Respondents shall comply with all Local, State and Federal directives, orders, and laws as
applicable to this proposal.
4) The successful Respondent shall not assign or transfer this agreement to any other
person or company without prior consent and approval in writing from the City of
Clifton.
5) Only one (1) proposal from the same Firm will be considered. A Respondent
submitting more than one (1) proposal will cause the rejection of all the proposals
of said consultant. If there is a reason for believing that collusion exists among
Respondents, those proposals shall be rejected.
6) All proposals and documents submitted to the City of Clifton in response to this RFP shall
become the property of the City of Clifton and are subject to the Open Public Records Act
of the State of New Jersey, after the contract is awarded.
7) The City of Clifton may secure background information based upon the references
provided in this RFP.
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VII - SUBMITTAL REQUIREMENTS (FORMS)
1. Affirmative Action Employee Information Report or Certificate of Employee
Information Report.
2. Acknowledgment of Receipt of Addenda (if applicable).
3. Non-Collusion Affidavit.
4. Investment Activities in Energy or Finance Sectors of Iran.
5. Prohibited Activities in Russia and Belarus.
6. Stockholder Disclosure Certification.
7. Proposal Form.
8. New Jersey Business Registration Certificate.
9. IRS W-9 Form.
10. Pay to Play Advisory Form.
Note: Failure to submit any one of the above items may be cause for rejection.
VIII - PROPOSAL EVALUATION
GENERAL
1.Responsiveness to the scope of services.
2.Organization of Proposal.
PERSONNEL
1.Experience and qualifications of principal assigned to this project.
EXPERIENCE AND SERVICES OF FIRM
1.History and experience with similar types of government entities.
2. Favorable references from public sector clients for which similar services
have been provided.
3. Reputation in the legal community in representing management.
4. Experience and reputation in the legal community of the partner that will be
the primary attorney to act as Special Counsel For Employment Litigation
Claims for the City of Clifton.
TECHNICAL EXPERTISE
Knowledge and skill in areas of brief writing, employment litigation, and
appellate practice.
HOURLY RATES FEES
The City will consider hourly rates proposed of Respondent's partners and
associates.
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COMMUNICATION SKILLS
Ability to work and communicate effectively with City of Clifton staff,
Management personnel, and any others as may be necessary.
2. SUBMISSION DATE
Proposals shall be received by the Purchasing Agent no later than 11:00 a.m. on
April 30, 2026.
Respondents are to submit Two (2) copies: (1) bound copy and (1) un-bound copy and one digital
copy on Flash Drive/Thumb Drive (marked with firm name or sealed in small envelope with firm name
marked outside).
3. AWARD OF CONTRACT
The City of Clifton reserves the right to reject any and all Proposals, to
waive any curable irregularities or technicalities and to award a contract to the
Respondent whose response is most advantageous, price and other factors
considered to the City of Clifton.
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CITY OF CLIFTON PROPOSAL FORM
EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION SPECIAL COUNSEL
Firm Name:
Signature: ________________________________________ Date: _______________
Print Name: __________________________________ Title: ____________________
Address:
______________________________________________________________________
Tax ID/FEIN:______________________________
Phone: Fax:
Email: ________________________________________________________________
Respondents hereby propose the following rates:
1. Hourly Rate for Partners: $ _
2. Hourly Rate for Associates: $
NOTE: Should the Respondent have other cost considerations for the City to evaluate as
part of the submission, such fees or associated costs shall be outlined in an attached fee
schedule.
A.
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