March 26, 2009

ANNOUNCEMENT

New York State Executive Chamber Approved Single Source Contract Exemption for Contract No. C000229 Between the Chamber and Schlam, Stone & Dolan LLP (Contractor) For Legal Services

On February 18, 2009, the Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) approved the New York State Executive Chamber’s (Chamber) single source exemption to amend an existing contract for legal services related to litigation involving judicial compensation.  The amendment would extend the end date of this contract through March 31, 2010 and include representation on another judicial compensation lawsuit. 

Pursuant to New York State Finance Law Section 163(10)(b), a competitive procurement is neither practical nor feasible because the issue is already being litigated by the Contractor on behalf of the Chamber.  To engage another law firm to represent the Chamber would be an inefficient use of State resources as the Contractor has already conducted the relevant research; the firm would pose a similar argument for this additional case.  Further, the need for services is limited to the time period in which the lawsuits are anticipated to be resolved.