A graduate of both the University of Richmond and the T.C. Williams School of Law, Blackwell N. Shelley was a real estate and bankruptcy lawyer before he was appointed to the United States Bankruptcy Court in 1976, a post he held until his retirement in 1994. He was appointed by Senior U.S. District Judge Robert R,. Merhige Jr., with whom he worked on the establishment of the Dalkon Shield Claimants Trust. Judge Shelley's papers involving the reorganization of A.H. Robins Co., the Dalkon Shield birth control device manufacturer, in 1985 and the resulting trust were donated to the library at the University of Richmond School of Law after he passed away in 2001.
Blackwell N. Shelley, Virginia Lawyers Weekly, Mar. 5, 2001.