Ms. Blackwell then served as an associate attorney with Fisher and Hurst Law Firm from 1985 to 1989. While at the firm, she worked as a trial attorney representing cases involving mass tort litigation. She was responsible for managing a docket of more than 2000 cases and a team of attorneys, paralegals, and secretaries. She spent 80% of her time in the courtroom negotiating settlements, trying cases or arguing law and motion.

Then, from 1989 to 2009, Ms. Blackwell served as legal counsel for Chevron in a variety of capacities, including the following:

Chevron Corporation: Ms. Blackwell served as litigation counsel from 1989 to 1992 and litigated cases involving employment law, environmental contamination, premises liability, tort, and contract.

Chevron USA, Inc.: Ms. Blackwell was promoted to Assistant General Counsel and served in this capacity from 1992 to 1996. She held nationwide responsibility for managing litigation for the operating company that had the most litigation. She also designed litigation management processes to minimize costs and maximize results.

Chevron Corporation: Ms. Blackwell was again promoted to Chief Trial Counsel, and from 1997 to 2002, she held management responsibility for all litigation and trial attorneys for all Chevron companies on the West Coast. She carried her own litigation caseload while managing lawyers, paralegals, and secretaries. In 1998, with a restructure within the law department, Ms. Blackwell took on additional responsibility and became manager of the real estate legal group as well.

Chevron Corporation: With the Chevron and Texaco merger, all litigation was out-sourced. . Ms. Blackwell recognized a need within Chevron's information technology groups so she created and headed a group of lawyers, paralegals, and secretaries to provide clients across the Chevron companies with legal services for information technology and real estate. She served as Managing Counsel for Real Estate and Information Technology Legal Services from 2002 to 2008. During that time, she developed expertise in drafting, negotiating, and managing multi-million dollar IT contracts internationally and domestically. She also developed expertise and provided legal counsel on electronic data privacy around the world, including drafting privacy policies for websites and terms of use statements for Chevron websites globally. Additionally, she provided counsel for the encryption methodology used by the corporation worldwide and designed and implemented business and electronic process for legal discovery compliance.

After retiring from Chevron in June 2009, Ms. Blackwell turned her attention to the practice of Elder Law, and serves the needs of the elderly in Contra Costa County. In particular, Ms. Blackwell has focused her practice on Social Security, Medicare and MediCal.

Ms. Blackwell's extensive legal experience has provided her with a detailed knowledge of the law and seasoned courtroom skill. If you would like to learn how she can assist with your case and advocate on your behalf, contact the firm today to discuss your options