Sheila M. Blackford

Sheila M. Blackford is a Practice Management Advisor for the Oregon State Bar Professional Liability Fund since 2005. A former sole practitioner, teacher, and marketing director in the financial services industry, she provides confidential practice management assistance to Oregon attorneys to reduce their risk of malpractice claims, enhance their enjoyment of practicing law, and improve their client relationships through clear communication and efficient delivery of legal services. She is a graduate of Mills College, where she received a B.A. degree in English in 1978. She received her J.D. with Tax Law Concentration from McGeorge School of Law University of the Pacific in 2000 and was admitted to the Oregon State Bar in October of 2000.

Sheila is a frequent speaker and author of articles on a variety of practice management, technology and malpractice avoidance topics for local bar groups and universities including Willamette University School of Law and Lewis and Clark Law School. She was a co-presenter for the ABA Spring 2006 Legal Malpractice Conference session Death by Laptop and a panelist for the ABA GP|Solo July 2006 teleconference Maximizing CMS: The Rx for Preventing Client Complaints and Malpractice. She has contributed articles to the Oregon State Bar Bulletin magazine, the OSB Elder Law Section newsletter, the Legal Secretaries International In Brief magazine, and Law Technology News. She is a member of the Practice Management Advisors Taskforce, Practice Marketing Core Group, Practice Management Core Group, Practice Technology Core Group and Practice Finance Core Group of the American Bar Association Law Practice Management Section. She participated as a member of the ABA TECHSHOW E-Ethics Track Advisory Board for 2007.