Servio-Tulio Moreno

Servio‐Tulio Moreno

Anticipated Graduation: May 2023

Hometown? I was born in El Paso, Texas, but moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, a couple of days before turning sixteen. In Albuquerque, I completed High School as well as my undergraduate degree. After college, I moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where I lived for almost six years. In Milwaukee, I met my wife and we eventually moved to Vancouver, Washington, because of her job. Both Albuquerque and Milwaukee represent integral milestones that have made me who I am today, which is why I consider them both my hometowns.

Undergraduate & Previous Work Experience: I graduated from the University of New Mexico – School of Engineering with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. After college, I secured an engineering job locally, but my heart wanted something else — to travel. I was lucky enough to land a job in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as a traveling Field Engineer where I traveled to customer sites 100 percent of the time Monday through Friday to implement OSHA compliant safety programs, primarily in the manufacturing space. Over the years, while employed with the same company, my vertical career growth consisted of positions as a Project Team Lead, Engineering Project Manager, Operations Manager, and Team Lead Manager for North America within the safety services business. I am a certified Project Management Professional (PMP)® with extensive Lean Project Management experience. The spectrum of responsibilities required for the roles I have been fortunate to undertake have consisted of but are not limited to on‐site technical subject matter expertise, extensive customer phasing, proposal development, contract negotiation, multi-project comprehensive life cycle success, budgeting, financial forecasting, inventory management, business integrations, software development and testing, and people manager.

Are you currently employed? If so, with whom? I am not currently employed. I am a full‐time law school student, husband, and first‐time father (my baby boy was born during the fall of my 1L journey).

What sparked your interest in studying intellectual property law? At the end of the day, the bottom line is that I left my job because I was dissatisfied. I felt that I could do something more meaningful. The degree of meaning, in an existential sense, is subjective, and to me finding a job that creates an impact where the outcome of the impact aligns with my principles has a high degree of meaning. I loved what engineering meant in college but felt like my professional life was driving me further away from what I loved most about engineering — invention and innovation. Through inventions, inventors bring to life creative solutions to problems within a given industry. Through innovation, inventors implement efficiencies to existing inventions through performance or manufacturing costs. At their core, the foundational principles behind inventions and innovation represent critical thinking, knowledge transfer, and growth: three foundational pillars that I find to be critical in a healthy society and a healthy culture. I think working in a field that protects inventions and inventors will better align with my values and will make me feel like my efforts are contributing to the betterment of our society. My goals in life are simple — to be a good father, to be a good husband, to be a good son, to be proud of the work I do. I hope that working in a field I am passionate about will facilitate my ability to achieve my goals.

 

What do you like to do for fun? I love music. I play classical guitar, a little bit of electric guitar, and am teaching myself to play piano. I am also a big fitness fanatic. Most of my life I have been into weight training but as of lately I have found a passion in endurance training such as swimming, biking, and running. I am currently training for a half marathon and hope to complete an Ironman triathlon before I turn 40.

Why did you pick Lewis & Clark Law School? If I am being perfectly honest, which I always strive to be, I applied to Lewis & Clark and only to Lewis & Clark because it was close to where my wife and I bought a house. However, I could not be happier with my decision because the level of support I have found at Lewis & Clark is one that I have never experienced anywhere else. The support comes from the student body as well as from the staff. I have always been able to be open and honest with everyone about my struggles or concerns and I have always felt heard.

What do you like most about Lewis & Clark? The community and the level of support that the community provides.

What has been your favorite experience so far? Learning. For a long time, I thought that my life as a student was over. Being in a position where your primary responsibility is learning is a privilege and I make sure and remind myself of that every day.

Any advice for new students? Ask yourself, is the effort I am putting towards law school going to return an equivalent level of output? If the answer is no, then stop working so hard and start working smarter. Work on your outlines throughout the semester so that when it is time to prep for finals, all your efforts are going towards practice exams. I can learn the theory behind shooting a basketball all day, but unless I practice shooting a basketball, I will never master the art of “nothing but net.”