VITA: STANLEY M. SERWATKA Page 1
VITA
BUSINESS United States Attorney's Office
ADDRESS 700 E. San Antonio Avenue, Suite 200
El Paso, Texas 79901-7020
(915) 534-3409
(915) 534-6024 (FAX) stanley.serwatka@usdoj.gov
sserwatka@aol.com
sserwatk@epcc.edu
EDUCATIONAL B.B.A. Case Western Reserve University; Cleveland,
EXPERIENCE Ohio. 1961-1967, Major - Marketing, Minors - degree Economics and English programs
J.D. Temple University James E. Beasley School of
Law; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 1967-1970.
LICENSES United States Supreme Court 1976.
Supreme Court of Texas 1973.
(admitted to practice in all lesser courts)
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania 1971.
(Admitted to practice in all lesser courts)
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit 1976.
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit 1981.
United States District Court for the Western District of Texas 1974.
PROFESSIONAL Assistant United States Attorney for the Western EXPERIENCE
District of Texas 1989-present.
Handle primarily drug and immigration cases.
Prepare indictments, prosecution memorandum, plea agreements, responses to all motions, review discovery material, negotiate with defense counsel, prepare trial briefs, respond to writs, etc.
El Paso Division Chief 1989 - 1997. Supervised all attorney and staff personnel in El Paso office. Responsible for development and implementation of policy, hired attorney and support staff, evaluated all personnel at mid-year and annually. Liaison duties with other federal and
VITA: STANLEY M. SERWATKA Page 2 state agencies as well as with United State District Courts. Maintained an active caseload.
Special Assistant United States Attorney employed by the United States
Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1987-1989. Handled complex criminal and civil cases for the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the
Western District of Texas, District of New Mexico, Central District of North
Carolina, and the Southern District of Florida.
Private law practice with my own firm, 1985-1987. Practiced general litigation. Represented several builders and a mortgage company.
Represented criminal defendants in murder, burglary, robbery, assault cases.
Private law practice 1979-1985.
Associate then partner in firm of Johnson, Allen, Aycock and Serwatka.
Practiced general litigation for the firm ranging from personal injury to employment discrimination matters; prosecution and defense of deceptive trade practice suits to contract disputes. Handled all criminal defense cases for the firm.
Assistant United States Attorney and Trial Attorney, United States
Department of Justice, United States Attorney Office for Western District of Texas and the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service
1976-1979. Handled miscellaneous criminal prosecutions. Prepared indictments, prosecution memorandum, responses to all motions, review of discovery material, negotiate with defense counsel, prepare trial briefs, respond to writs, etc. Prosecuted major drug cases and complex medicaid/medicare fraud cases. Wrote appeal briefs and argued several cases at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New
Orleans.
Private law practice 1973-1975.
Began my legal career in El Paso working for two small firms, Ralph W.
Scoggins & Associates and Richard Yetter & Associates. Did general litigation work. Did not get to court enough, and when opportunity to work for United States Attorney Office presented itself I applied and was hired.
VITA: STANLEY M. SERWATKA Page 3
MILITARY Active duty United States Army 1971-1973.
EXPERIENCE Reserve duty United States Army 1973-1978. Ordered to active duty to fulfill two year obligation resulting from participation in ROTC program while in law school. While in military was legal officer for Advanced
Individual Training Brigade at Fort Bliss, advising the Brigade Commander on various legal matters – civil and military.
Stationed in the Republic of Korea in 1971-1972.
Served as a detachment commander for three months then assigned as the
Legal Assistance Officer for the 20 th
Support Group at ASCOM Depot Korea
(between Seoul and Inchon). Duties included advising the Group and Post
Commander on matters relating to the Status of Forces Agreement with the
Korean government, all courts martial actions, advised all Article 32 investigating officers (Military equivalent to a grand jury investigation), advised troops concerning their legal rights under the Soldiers and Sailors
Civil Relief Act. Advised soldiers contemplating marrying Korean nationals.
Upon return from Korea, I was again stationed at Fort Bliss. My last four months on active duty with the Army was spent on special assignments from the Advanced Individual Training Brigade Commander. I was sent to the Pentagon to determine why certain information generated at the
Pentagon did not reach the Brigade on time. After spending several days there and solving the problem, I returned to Fort Bliss.
While with the Army Reserves, I was the Company Commander of the 383 rd
Petroleum Battalion located in El Paso, Texas. My responsibilities included all administrative matters as well as all troop training – both classroom and hands on. I taught numerous classes ranging from first aid to military protocol.
BUSINESS Owner and manager of three restaurants, Tio's EXPERIENCE Tacos, and two
Sbarro The Italian Eatery franchises 1982-1997. Owned jointly all three restaurants with another individual until his death. Bought out estate and continued to run for several years. Sold Tio's Tacos to my restaurant manager in 1995. Sold Sbarro's franchises back to franchise corporation
November 1997. An educational experience in business finance and management as well as federal, state, and local laws and rules and regulations.
VITA: STANLEY M. SERWATKA Page 4
TEACHING Instructor, Attorney General's Advocacy Institute,
EXPERIENCE Washington, DC 1992 & 1993. Trial techniques, opening statements, closing arguments, and presentation of evidence.
Instructor, State Bar of Texas Professional Development Program
(Continuing Legal Education) 1995 & 2003. Legal ethics, problems and solutions.
Guest lecturer, Criminal Justice, University of Texas at El Paso, 1995-2011.
Federal law enforcement, prosecution function.
Guest lecturer, Adult Continuing Education, University of Texas at El Paso,
1998. Federal government and its citizens.
Part-time Instructor, Government, El Paso Community College,
1996-present. American Government and Politics and State and Local
Government. Have taught basic federal government and state government courses for 30 consecutive semesters and for multiple summer sessions.
SERVICE Grievance Oversight Committee appointed by the
PROFESSIONAL Supreme Court of Texas, 2008-present. Nine appointed members, six lawyers and three lay persons, from throughout Texas. Meet regularly to fact find and study the lawyer grievance governance system and make biennial report to the Texas Supreme Court on improvements to the system, both procedural and substantive. Supreme Court of Texas, Board of
Disciplinary Appeals, 1997-2003 (two three year terms). Appointed by the Supreme Court of Texas. Twelve lawyers from throughout the State of
Texas serve as a quasi-judicial body handling lawyer disciplinary cases.
Jurisdiction is both original and appellate. Meet to hold hearings in Austin in Supreme Court Courtroom. leadership Elected Vice Chairman 2002-2003.
Role District Seventeen Grievance Committee, 1991-1997. Appointed by
District Seventeen Bar Director. Twenty-four members, sixteen lawyers, eight non-lawyers from seven western counties of Texas to provide initial disciplinary decisions when lawyers accused of violations of the Texas Rules of Disciplinary Conduct.
VITA: STANLEY M. SERWATKA Page 5 leadership Elected Chairman 1996. role Reelected Chairman 1997.
American Bar Association
Litigation Section
Criminal Justice Section
Prosecution Function Committee
Rules of Criminal Procedure and Evidence
Committee
State Bar of Texas
Criminal Law Section
Litigation Section
El Paso Bar Association
Criminal Law Committee
Government Attorneys Committee
Ethics Committee leadership Director 1993-1996. role
COMMUNITY El Paso County Mental Health Association,
SERVICE Director 1975-1977.
National Conference of Christians and Jews,
Director 1985-1986.
Professional Advisory Board, El Paso Association for Children and Adults with Learning
Disabilities, 1986-1989.
Peace Lutheran Church, 1979-1995.
Elder 1987 & 1994-1995
Vice President 1988-1989
President 1990-1991
VITA: STANLEY M. SERWATKA Page 6
St. Marks United Methodist Church 1995-present,
Chairperson, Finance Committee 1997-2000.
Mission Committee, Mission Team,
Juarez missions, several trips to feed children and adults living in dumps on outskirts of Juarez.
Mission outreach at New Life Orphanage
Tornillo, Texas to construct chain link
fence around premises, mentally disabled
children were wandering off.
Mission outreach to new church on Myrtle
Avenue to construct playground for use
of church and community.
Mission trip to Nemila, Bosnia, 1999.
Replaced roof on school building in Muslim town of 1,700 residents. Also refurbished three classrooms. Trip arranged under the auspices of United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees through United Methodists Committee for Relief.
Mission trip to Trineva, Slovakia, 2000. Built three rooms in existing structure to be used for first Christian radio station in
Slovakia. Trip arranged through United Methodist Committee for Relief.
Mission trip to Mostar, Bosnia, 2002.
Built three greenhouses, one each for a
Bosniac family, a Serbian family, and a
Croatian family. Trip arranged through
United Methodist Committee for Relief.
Mission trip to Budapest, Hungary, 2004.
Painted, plastered, and otherwise
refurbished church and administrative
building for Methodist Church, Hungary.
Trip arranged through United Methodist
Committee for Relief.
Additional mission trips to Nyiregyhaza,
Szeged, and Pecs Hungary.
VITA: STANLEY M. SERWATKA Page 7
HONORS AND Citation for exceptional service from William S.
AWARDS Sessions, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation for work on case involving killing of FBI agent in Las Vegas, NV, 1993.
Citation for exceptional service from Louis Freeh, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation for work on public corruption case involving Immigration
Inspector allowing ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana to enter the country at El Paso ports of entry, 1994.
United States Department of Justice Special
Achievement Award, September 28, 1990.
United States Department of Justice Special
Achievement Award, August 10, 1992.
Numerous cash incentive awards for superior performance.
Nominated for El Paso Community College Outstanding Part-time Faculty
Award, 2003.
MISCELLANEOUS Candidate for District Attorney, 34 th Judicial District, El Paso, Culbertson, and Hudspeth Counties, 1984.
Precinct Chairman, 1984-86.
Candidate Selection Committee, 1984-86.
Also served as a finance chairman for Texas gubernatorial candidate,
1974.
REFERENCES Honorable Silvestre Reyes
United States Congressman
U.S. House of Representatives
1527 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
(202) 225-4831
(202) 225-2016 (FAX)
or
VITA: STANLEY M. SERWATKA Page 8
310 N. Mesa, Suite 400
El Paso, Texas 79901
(915) 534-4400
(915) 534-7426 (FAX)
Joseph B. Graves, JD
Professor, Political Science Dept.
University of Texas at El Paso
Mail Code: 00547
El Paso, Texas 79968
(915) 747-7970
Jgraves@utep.edu
Honorable Frank Montalvo
Judge, United States District Court
U.S. Courthouse
525 Magoffin Avenue, Suite 461
El Paso, Texas 79901
(915) 534-6600