Nancy T. Scull

A former third-grade teacher, Scull enrolled in law school because her husband thought it would be a good distraction.

Then raising a three-year-old daughter, Scull and her husband moved more than 30 years ago to Southern California from the East Coast for his career as a university professor. Scull wasn't thrilled with the move. Taking legal classes while raising a small child remedied her distaste for the area. After 35 years of private practice, she has a hard time imagining her life without the law.

"I never really had it in my dreams to be a lawyer," Scull said. "But I love it. It was just one of those surprises in life."

The partner at Sheppard Mullin has her hands full with a couple of her favorite type of land development projects: mixed use. One is the Ballpark Village project underway in San Diego; the other is the city's downtown Park & Market development set to break ground this year.

"Cities don't want static projects," Scull said. "Mixed-use developments become part of the community, defining the community and the city. If you look at the most successful urban areas, they're areas where you have integrated public spaces. They're not static. They're not passive. You may have yoga programs in the morning, or you may have a concert in the evening, where it's not exclusive and it's open."

Scull insisted that open, community feel is attracting more "millennials, who don't just want to go into their apartments or their condo and close the door."

Mixed-use project work for Scull dates the LA Live development, an iconic part of Los Angeles today that Scull looks on with pride, feeling she "made a contribution that's actually working."

Another of Scull's future development projects adopts Bay Area-design to meet younger residents expectations in Southern California.

"It's bringing the feel and spirit of Silicon Valley campuses to Orange County," she said. "It's responding to the needs of young workers, where they don't just want to drive up, walk into an office, and work all day. They want their work environment to be part of their culture and their values."

— Shane Nelson