Garvey began her career as an attorney in Santa Barbara, California, in 1962, and then practiced at the law firm Jordan, Keeler and Seligman in San Francisco, California, for 25 years. She later joined the San Francisco-based law firm Heller Ehrman in 1988, and then moved to Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton after the Heller Ehrman firm dissolved in 2008.
