Agenda Item
i. RFP 26-718 Board Attorney Legal Services/Law Firm Agreement ~ Added 2.6.2026
Summary: Presented by: Mr. Glinton R. Darien, Jr., Director of Legal Affairs, Division of Legal Services
Request: It is requested that the DeKalb County Board of Education (“Board”) select a law firm to serve as the attorney for the Board, pursuant to RFP 26-718, entitled Board Attorney Legal Services.
Why: The Board requires sound legal advice on various issues. Therefore, it is prudent for the Board to retain a law firm they determine to best represent its interests. The approval of a law firm will enable the DeKalb County School District (“District”) to continue the efficient provision of legal services for Board Attorney.
Details: This request is pursuant to the District’s Request for Proposal (“RFP”) 26-718, entitled Board Attorney Legal Services. That RFP noted that the selected law firm will be expected to provide advice to the Board during business and non-business hours. The selected law firm would also attend scheduled and called meetings of the Board when requested. The RFP mentioned that various issues arise during the course of business involving matters that will require guidance and advice from legal counsel. Because such services, at times, represent emergency situations, legal counsel will be expected to return a telephone call, or email, to the Board without undue delay.
The following is a summary of the sourcing efforts for RFP 26-718:
Posted to IonWave on November 13, 2025;
Advertised in the Champion Newspaper on November 13, 2025, and November 20, 2025;
Electronic notification was sent to 13 vendors from the District’s Vendor Bid List;
Electronic notification was sent to 401 vendors through the State of Georgia Procurement Registry; and
Electronic notification was sent to 751 vendors through ionWave.
In response to the solicitation, four (4) proposals were received by the December 18, 2025, deadline, and four (4) proposals were deemed responsive. These proposals were:
C. McKinley Law & Associates;
Denmark Ashby Matricardi, LLC;
Hall Booth Smith, PC;
Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, LLP.
RFP 26-718 provides that the contract for legal services will contain four (4) one-year extension options. Therefore, an evaluation committee was formed to review the proposals. The members of the evaluation committee met on January 9, 2026, to discuss the law firms that submitted a proposal, score each law firm, and decide which law firms would be interviewed. After that discussion, the evaluation committee interviewed the following law firms on January 15, 2026:
Denmark Ashby Matricardi, LLC;
Hall Booth Smith, PC; and
Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein, LLP.
On January 30, 2026, the evaluation committee met to discuss the interviews and to rank the law firms. The final rankings are:
Denmark Ashby Matricardi, LLC;
Hall Booth Smith; and
Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein
Financial impact: The account code from which the expense will be paid is 100.2300.530002.00011.7080.9990.8010.080.0000.
Contact: Mr. Glinton R. Darien, Jr., Director of Legal Affairs, Division of Legal Services, 678- 676-0403.
Effective: February 13, 2026
Status: Approved by the Office of Legal Affairs
Board Attorney Legal Services
Final Evaluation Form - RFP No. 26-718
INTERVIEW AND
EVALUATION
PRESENTATION
FIRM'S RELEVANT EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE
INTERVIEW AND PRESENTATION RANKING
OVERALL APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY
TOTAL INTERVIEW AND PRESENTATION
FIRM'S OVERVIEW/COMPANY PROFILE
TOTAL EVALUATION SCORE
PROFESSIONAL REFERENCES
EVALUATION RANKING
SCOPE OF SERVICES
COST OF SERVICES
PROJECT TEAM
BILLING
BAFO
Board Attorney Legal Services
RFP 26-718
APPLICANTS POINTS AVAILABLE 100 175 100 50 75 500 150 250 100 75 575
C. McKinley Law & Associates Score 100 84 32 26 0 242 4th
Denmark Ashby Matricardi LLC Score 100 147 92 10 72 421 3rd 144 235 100 75 554 1st
Hall Booth Smith, PC Score 100 161 84 34 73 452 2nd 149 222 93 72 536 2nd
Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP Score 100 175 100 34 54 463 1st 138 241 100 54 533 3rd
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