California Lawyers Association Family Law Section 2020 Court Staff Award Presented to Trina Blackshire

• Publication year: 2021

California Lawyers Association Family Law Section 2020 Court Staff Award Presented to Trina Blackshire

Trina Blackshire began at the court sometime in the late 1990s, after having been a paralegal at a local family law office. Always having an interest in assisting parties in getting through the system, Trina started in the facilitator's office answering phones and doing workshops for self-represented litigants. When changes were made in the facilitator's office, she moved to the commissioner side of the program and became a court specialist. There she works with DCSS litigants as well as making sure the court meets all the DCSS grant requirements. She organizes conference attendance, manages timesheets, organizes the mandatory quarterly meetings between the court and DCSS, as well as other various administrative duties. She has become the DCSS point person.

The other part of her job is essentially working as liaison between the court staff and litigants. She participates in the courtroom on days where the calendar is litigant filed motions, mainly child custody and child support matters. She reviews the matters with the bench office and clerk to highlight procedural problems. She assists...