SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Law Firm to Take On City Attorney Duties

A Newport Beach-based law firm already employed by the city was awarded added duties as San Juan Capistrano’s temporary city attorney this week over the objections of Councilman Jeff Vasquez.

Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth, a law firm that advises the city’s Redevelopment Agency and serves as the city’s bond counselors, will now also take on the duties of City Atty. John R. Shaw, whose last day in the job is Friday. Shaw, who spent six years as the city’s first full-time attorney, quit the $92,000-a-year post last month to work for a private law firm.

The selection Tuesday night came in a 4-1 vote, with Vasquez dissenting and pleading with his fellow council members to seek out another firm. Vasquez suggested Los Angeles-based Burke, Williams & Sorensen, a firm with an office in Costa Mesa that serves cities throughout the state and tendered a lower bid for the San Juan Capistrano job.

While a contract with the firm has not yet been negotiated, Assistant City Manager George Scarborough indicated that the fees of Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth would be $175 an hour. By contrast, Burke, Williams & Sorensen had offered to work for the city for $120 an hour.

“We need a firm that is not all things to us . . . that will provide some objectivity,” Vasquez said. “We need another opinion.”

However, Scarborough suggested that Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth already has “an understanding of the city” and that its time spent on city business would be less in the long run.

The council voted to employ Stradling, Yocca, Carlson & Rauth for 90 days to six months, until a permanent city attorney is hired. The firm has indicated that it is not interested in the full-time job, Scarborough said.