Paula C. P. de Sousa Mills

Partner

Paula C. P. de Sousa Mills is a partner in Best Best & Krieger LLP’s Special Districts practice group, practicing in the firm’s San Diego office. She practices in most areas of public agency representation, including the Political Reform Act, Brown Act, California Public Records Act, public works construction and purchasing issues, real property issues, and the Cortese- Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000.

Paula currently serves as general counsel to public agencies such as the Metro Wastewater Joint Powers Authority, Padre Dam Municipal Water District, Santa Fe Irrigation District, Sweetwater Authority, and Valley Center Municipal Water District. She also provides special counsel services to public agencies throughout California.

With regard to the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg Local Government Reorganization Act of 2000, Paula provides general and special counsel services to Local Agency Formation Commissions (LAFCOs) throughout the state and regularly advises other public agency clients with respect to LAFCO-related issues. She advises the California Association of LAFCOs and assists in drafting legislation on their behalf. She has also prepared several “white papers” utilized by LAFCOs throughout the state on changes in law impacting changes of organization and reorganizations. Additionally, Paula is involved with special district industry organizations such as the California Special Districts Association, in which she currently serves on its Education Committee.

Paula is active in the San Diego community, both as a member of professional groups such as the San Diego County Bar Association and the Lawyers Club, and through community service as a former board member and current volunteer of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, San Diego Affiliate. She was awarded the YWCA’s TWIN Award in 2004 in recognition of her contributions to the legal industry as a distinguished woman in business. In 2012, Paula was a finalist for the San Diego Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business Award.

Paula graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1992 with a degree in Political Science, and received her Juris Doctorate degree from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in 1997, where she was a member of the Pacific Law Journal. She joined Best Best & Krieger LLP upon graduation from law school.

Education

• University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law, J.D.
• University of California at Santa Barbara, B.A.

Bar Admissions

• California (1997)

Paula C. P. de Sousa Mills

Partner

• California Special Districts Association, Membership Services and Professional Development committees
• California Special Districts Association 2016 Expert Feedback teams: Public Works and Facilities, Legal, Governance, and Formation and Reorganization
• San Diego County Bar Association
• Lawyers Club
• Susan G. Komen for the Cure, San Diego Affiliate (volunteer)