The Stockton City Council unanimously appointed outside attorney Donald A. Larkin as interim city attorney on Monday, turning to a law firm already under contract with the city while officials prepare to search for a permanent legal chief.
Larkin, a partner with Burke, Williams & Sorensen LLP, will begin Aug. 6, immediately after departing City Attorney Marci Arredondo’s final day. Councilmember Mariela Ponce was absent from Monday’s vote.
Arredondo announced the appointment after councilmembers returned from a closed session held to consider who would lead the City Attorney’s Office. Larkin will be paid according to rates established in the city’s existing legal services agreement with the firm, she said.
Mayor Christina Fugazi said the appointment was separate from the recruitment process for a permanent city attorney.
“This isn’t a recruitment process,” Fugazi told Stocktonia after the meeting. “This is taking a firm that we currently have that is under contract with us and having that firm, with an attorney that’s designated at that firm, to be our interim city attorney.”
The city has not established how long Larkin will serve or when interviews for the permanent position could begin. Human Resources must first publish the job opening, Fugazi said. She plans to meet with the city’s interim human resources director to discuss the process.
“We don’t know how long the process will take in order to recruit somebody to come in,” Fugazi said.
Arredondo has agreed to help Larkin become familiar with the office and remain available to answer questions about current or pending litigation, according to the mayor.
Larkin will primarily oversee broader city and council legal matters. Attorneys Taryn Jones and John McElroy will continue handling their existing duties, with McElroy overseeing the city’s litigation and appearing in court on Stockton’s behalf, Fugazi said.
The city has only one regular council meeting scheduled in August, on Aug. 18, which Fugazi said should limit the immediate workload facing Larkin and the firm.
Larkin is a partner in Burke, Williams & Sorensen’s labor and employment and public law practice groups. He has more than 25 years of experience representing public agencies and previously served as the in-house city attorney for Morgan Hill, according to his biography on the firm’s website.
He has also worked as deputy county counsel for Santa Clara County, assistant city attorney for Palo Alto and deputy city attorney for Santa Clara.
Burke, Williams & Sorensen has previously provided legal services to Stockton on specific litigation and development matters. Attorneys from the firm represented the city in a case involving Stockton’s term-limit rules that reached a state appellate court in 2016. The firm later helped draft portions of the South Pointe development agreement considered by the council in 2024 and was listed as an active city vendor in July 2025.
The firm has also represented a separate Stockton public agency.
Stockton Unified School District hired Burke partner Jack Lipton in February 2020 to serve as legal counsel specifically for the Board of Trustees rather than the entire district. A San Joaquin County civil grand jury later criticized the hiring process, finding that the board did not seek proposals from competing firms and did not make the contract available to the public or all trustees before voting.
Trustees voted 4-3 in January 2023 to terminate the agreement after more than two years. The school district agreement was separate from the firm’s work for the city, and available records do not indicate that Larkin was involved in the SUSD representation.
Larkin’s appointment comes less than five months after the council voted 7-0 to appoint Arredondo as Stockton’s permanent city attorney.
Arredondo submitted her resignation July 21 after receiving an opportunity to work with her children in a family law practice. Her departure will leave Stockton without a permanent city attorney for the second time in less than seven months.
Former City Attorney Lori Asuncion resigned Jan. 13 after more than 18 years with the city. Jones led the office while the council conducted the search that resulted in Arredondo’s appointment.
The city has not announced when it expects to post the position or select Stockton’s next permanent city attorney.