Biographical Profile:

Justice Patricio M. Serna

Patricio M. Serna is currently a Justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court, having been sworn in on December 5, 1996. He served as Chief Justice during 2001 and 2002. He was appointed as a District Court Judge to the First Judicial District in Santa Fe and served for over 11 years, from 1985 until 1996, during which he was also President of the New Mexico District Judges Association. Among his awards and honors, he was named one of Hispanic Business Magazine’s 100 Most Influential Hispanics in America, received the Judge of the Year Award from the National Hispanic Bar Association, and received the Outstanding Lawyer Award from the New Mexico Hispanic Bar Association. He is President/Moderator of the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts. As the first in his family to attend college, he earned a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Business Administration from the College of St. Joseph on the Rio Grande, a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Denver School of law, a Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School, and an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from the University of Denver School of Law. He taught as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law School and Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.