CourtSmart Digital Systems, Inc.--Costs, B-292995.7, March 18, 2005

B-292995.7 Mar 18, 2005 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights CourtSmart Digital Systems, Inc. requests that our Office recommend that the Social Security Administration (SSA) reimburse CourtSmart $189,748.50 in costs incurred pursuing its protest in CourtSmart Digital Sys., Inc., B292995.2, B292995.3, Feb. 13, 2004, 2004 CPD 79. We recommend that the agency reimburse CourtSmart $187,108.50 in protest costs. View Decision B-292995.7, CourtSmart Digital Systems, Inc.--Costs, March 18, 2005 Decision Matter of: CourtSmart Digital Systems, Inc.--Costs File: B-292995.7 Date: March 18, 2005 James H. Roberts, III, Esq., Van Scoyoc Kelly, for the protester. Seth Binstock, Esq., Social Security Administration, for the agency. Henry J. Gorczycki, Esq., and James A. Spangenberg, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Where the contracting agency challenges the reasonableness of hourly rates claimed for outside legal services for both attorney and legal assistant fees, GAO will recommend reimbursement of actual costs claimed to the extent relevant evidence establishes that the actual costs reflect customary rates charges for similar services; to the extent customary rates for costs claimed are not established, GAO will recommend reimbursement of a portion of the costs by applying rates that the record establishes as customary rates charged for similar services. DECISION CourtSmart Digital Systems, Inc. requests that our Office recommend that the Social Security Administration (SSA) reimburse CourtSmart189,748.50 in costs incurred pursuing its protest in CourtSmart Digital Sys., Inc., B292995.2, B292995.3, Feb. 13, 2004, 2004 CPD 79. We recommend that the agency reimburse CourtSmart187,108.50 in protest costs. We sustained CourtSmart's protest because the agency's evaluation of quotations and the source selection decision were improper under the regulations for orders under the Federal Supply Schedule, and were otherwise unreasonable under the terms of the solicitation. We recommended that the agency cancel the order that was issued and conduct a new source selection process. We also recommended that the protester be reimbursed its costs of filing and pursuing the protest, including reasonable attorneys' fees. On April 8, 2004, CourtSmart filed a documented and certified claim with SSA seeking213,434 as reimbursement of total costs of pursuing its protest. [1] On July 1, after receiving no response from SSA, CourtSmart filed this request in our Office. SSA responded to the claim for the first time on September 3 in a report to our Office, in which the agency took the position that CourtSmart was entitled to recover only70,717. CourtSmart responded by accepting reductions for costs not related to pursuing the protest as identified by SSA on September 3, and by reducing the claimed hourly rate for reimbursement of costs attributed to legal assistant fees. The parties now agree that the following portions of CourtSmart's claim should be reimbursed: (1)internal costs in the amount of $13,937.25; and (2) outside counsel costs for 324.15 hours of attorney services and 243 hours of legal assistant services. The only remaining disputes that we consider here concern the reasonableness of the hourly rates billed by outside counsel for the attorney and legal assistant, and CourtSmart's recovery of costs of pursuing this claim. A protester seeking to recover its protest costs must submit sufficient evidence to support its monetary claim; our Office will base our decision for a cost claim upon the facts and circumstances of that claim. Armour of Am.--Costs , B-237690.2, Mar. 4, 1992, 921CPD 257 at 5. The amount claimed may be recovered to the extent that the claim is adequately documented, and is shown to be reasonable. Id. We will determine the reasonableness of hourly rates for legal fees by considering the customary fee charged for similar work in the community, as well as the experience, reputation and ability of the practitioner. Id. at 7; KPMG Peat Marwick, LLP--Costs , B-259479.4, July 25, 1996, 962CPD 43 at 5 (attorneys' fees); E&R, Inc.--Costs , B255868.2, May 30, 1996, 961CPD 264 at 5-6 (non-lawyer representative fees). In doing so, where relevant and appropriate, we will consider the fee rates found allowable by our Office in similarly complex proceedings. See KPMG Peat Marwick, LLP--Costs , supra ; Bay Tankers, Inc.--Costs , B238162.4, May31, 1991, 911CPD 524 at 3. Attorney's Fees CourtSmart incurred153,971.25 for its attorney's services at an hourly rate of $475. SSA generally alleges that the rate is above the reasonable rate charged for these services. [2] In response, CourtSmart submitted information from a 2002 national billing rate survey. Specifically, CourtSmart identified the ranges of hourly billing rates for partners and for associates from 19firms in the Washington, D.C.