US Court of Appeals
for Veterans Claims

Q: Are VA and other Board employees, appellants' representatives, and individuals who have a former business relationship with the Court, including former employees, eligible to submit proposals in response to the Court's RFP?

A: Yes, VA and other Board employees, appellants' representatives, and individuals who have a former business relationship with the Court, including former employees, are eligible to submit proposals in response to the Court's RFP. The Court will assess any potential conflict of interest, and any potential appearance of a conflict or other impropriety, on a case-by-case basis as it reviews submissions.

Q: Appendices are required, what are the expected components? What level of illustration is desired? How many photographs in total are expected? Color or black and white? The RFP calls for an index, but other services involved do not extend beyond the manuscript stage. Usually an index is prepared when a book is in final layout so that page numbering is correct. Does USCAVC expect the manuscript to be indexed (and then to repaginate later) or do they expect us to step back into the process during the design phase?

A: That level of detail is not required for the proposal, but the number of photos and appendices would depend upon the author's approach. Discussion that the book would contain an index was included in the RFP because we would expect the author to identify general topic areas that should be included therein, but not necessarily be involved in generating it.