Faculty and Staff
Paula Hicks-Hudson
Lecturer in Law
E-Mail: Paula.HicksHudson@utoledo.edu
Paula was selected by the Lucas County Democratic Party to fill the vacancy on Toledo City Council District 4 seat. She successfully won the May 5, 2011 primary prima She won the November General to retain this seat for a full term.
Since 1982, when she and family moved to Toledo, her entire legal career has been working in the public sector. She returns to City Council after having served as the Legislative Director from 1998 until 2002. She began her career at Toledo Legal Aid Society working in the area of government benefits and representing senior citizens. She has served as an assistant prosecuting attorney, assistant public defender, assistant attorney general and Toledo city attorney. Most recently, she was the Chief Legal Counsel to the Ohio Office of Budget and Management during Governor Ted Strickland’s administration.
Paula brings a commitment to empowering and helping people improve their lives. As a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow, she worked with several community groups while at Toledo Legal Aid Society. She has continued her involvement with youth and educational issues through her association with the Coalition for Quality Education, and the Covenant Youth Development Corporation. She served on the following boards and organizations: Urban Minority Alcohol and Drug Outreach Program, the NAACP, the YWCA, the Frederick Douglass Community Center, Toledo Youth Hostel, the African American Law Enforcement Agents, and the state and national Federations of Business and Professional Women, Inc.
Within the legal community, she has served as Past President of the Thurgood Marshall Law Association, the Toledo Women’s Bar Association and a member of the Toledo Bar Association Board of Directors. Currently, she is a member of the Toledo Bar Association, and the Council of Delegates and Board of Editors for the Ohio State Bar Association.
She is trained in mediation and as a Court Appointed Child Advocate-Guardian at Litem. Currently she is focusing her practice on education, domestic relations and juvenile law.
She is an accomplished musician and serves as the minister of music at Redeemer Lutheran Church. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Spelman College, Atlanta, GA; a Masters of Arts from Colorado State University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Iowa.