Norma Tabares

Best Best & Krieger LLP (BBK) partner Norma Tabares is a member of the firm’s Municipal Law practice group, where she leverages her more than 20 years of legal and senior executive experience in the legal, nonprofit, public and private sectors to advocate for, advance and protect her clients’ interests. 

Norma advises public agencies on all aspects of local government law, such as the Brown Act, the Political Reform Act and the California Public Records Act.  Her practice focuses on housing, economic and community development, and complex transactions. She serves as city attorney for the City of Baldwin Park and general counsel to various other public entities.

She regularly provides strategic and solution-oriented counsel on the legalities of day-to-day operations, compliance with housing laws, land use matters, conflicts of interest, contracting and procurement, and risk and litigation management.  She counsels clients and drafts agreements related to real estate matters, housing and mixed-use developments, projects involving public infrastructure and public-private partnerships.  Norma is highly skilled at drafting and implementing critical and complex ordinances in areas such as housing and zoning, tenant protections, and cannabis.  Additionally, her municipal clients rely on Norma to facilitate executive performance evaluation, and for administration of municipal programs, oversight of significant code amendments and adoption of housing elements and specific plans. 

Prior to joining BBK, Norma was a partner with a Los Angeles-based firm. In this role, Norma served as assistant city attorney and special counsel to several cities, as well as general counsel to school districts.

Earlier in her career, Norma was a member of the real estate group at the Los Angeles office of Paul Hastings, LLP, where her practice focused on complex real estate transactions and financing.

In addition to her legal experience, Norma also worked as a consultant and nonprofit executive, where she provided strategic counsel to nonprofit clients and led and executed philanthropic initiatives. 
 
Norma lives in Redondo Beach with her husband and their dog, Portia. She is the proud mom of two sons and enjoys reading, long walks, a good podcast, and gatherings with family and friends.