Also known as: requests for proposals · request for proposal · requests for proposal · RFP · RFPs
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A formal solicitation issued by a government agency or other entity inviting interested parties to submit proposals for goods, services, or development projects under stated requirements and evaluation criteria.
Alec learns that a city arts commissioner will appoint a panel to award counsel for a fraud investigation through an RFP process. He immediately organizes a donation drive among clients and patrons, hosts events, and links support for the commissioner to stronger art oversight while his firm submits a proposal. The bar investigates whether the contributions were made to secure consideration for the engagement.
After a municipality rezones a site to R-T, it issues an RFP requiring bids of at least thirty million dollars. A nonprofit developer analyzes the new zoning restrictions and concludes that affordable housing cannot be built profitably at any price meeting the RFP minimum. The developer therefore submits no proposal and later challenges the rezoning as exclusionary.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
No. An RFP functions as an invitation to submit offers rather than an offer itself. Courts treat a broad public posting or solicitation as a request for proposals that invites vendors to make offers, so mutual assent must still occur through later direct communications that refer to each other.
Supporting sources
A lawyer violates the rule by making or soliciting contributions for the purpose of obtaining or being considered for a government legal engagement awarded through an RFP. Purpose is assessed by examining timing, donor messaging, and whether the contributions would have occurred but for the desire to secure the engagement.
Supporting sources
Yes. The rule contains an exception for engagements awarded on the basis of experience, expertise, professional qualifications, and cost following an RFP or other process free from political contribution influence. A formal multi-official committee applying objective merit criteria satisfies this exception.
Supporting sources
…adopted Local Law No. 2-2004 and the Social Services Site was rezoned R-T. The following month, Nassau County issued a Request for Proposals ("RFP") concerning the Social Services Site under the R-T zoning designation. The RFP stated that the County would not consider bids of less than $30 million. Plaintiffs were unable to…