Katherine Christensen was born and raised in Utah. She has lived there except for four years in San Antonio, Texas. She is a mother to four children, and helped raise three stepchildren.
Katherine has a Bachelor of General Studies degree with an emphasis in Family Life. She led one year as a volunteer Group Leader, and another as co-leader, for a local chapter of Dr. Abraham Low’s Recovery Inc. self-help groups. Katherine served a year as Dean of Students at the North Ogden Kimber Academy. Katherine teaches piano lessons and plays the organ regularly at her church. She taught children’s and youth classes at church, as well as Cub Scouts.
While Katherine’s parents descended from Mayflower Pilgrims, both of her grandfathers were alcoholics who later recovered. Because of severe trauma as a young child, her father developed multiple personalities, suffering also from delusional paranoia. Her parents separated when she was nine, and later divorced. So while Katherine comes from many noteworthy people among her ancestors, her immediate family had great challenges and dysfunctions. She values those experiences for insights into trials others have, to help them find the greater joys life has to offer.
Katherine enjoys reading, hiking, gardening, dancing, writing, and being with people. She loves to sing while accompanying herself on the piano. She enjoys singing solos or in groups. She likes public speaking. She enjoys laughing and people with a good sense of humor.
Katherine participated in a couple of Fire Walks, walking through burning hot coals in her bare feet, which remained in perfect condition. She also completed a few Ropes Courses, facing her fears. She had a marvelous experience skydiving.
Katherine and her (now ex-) husband in 2011 visited her stepson in China. She studied Mandarin Chinese for this trip. She enjoys learning languages, including Dutch, German, Spanish, Italian, French and Latin. Katherine would like to travel and see more of the world.
(UPDATED) Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Maria Lourdes Aranal Sereno, the 169th Justice of the high court, is the 24th Chief Justice.
In a transmittal letter addressed to Senior Associate Antonio Carpio and Sereno, Exec. Sec. Paquito Ochoa formally informed the high court about the appointment.
On page one of the letter addressed to Carpio, Ochoa said: "I am pleased to transmit herewith the appointment of Hon. Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno, signed by His Excellency, Pres. Benigno Simeon S. Aquino III, as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, vice Renato Corona."
On the page addressed to Sereno, Aquino said: "Pursuant to the provisions of existing laws, you are hereby appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. By virtue hereof, you may qualify and enter upon the performance of the duties of the office, furnishing this Office and the Civil Service Commission with copies of your oath of office."
She is the first lady Chief Justice of the Republic of the Philippines and will serve a term of 18 years. Because of her appointment, not one of the sitting more senior justices of the high court -- all 14 of them -- will ascend to the chief justiceship.
Associate Justice Maria Lourdes A. Sereno is the first appointee to the Supreme Court (SC) by Pres. Noynoy Aquino and the youngest among the nominees for Chief Justice coming from the high tribunal.
She started her career in private practice as a junior associate of the Sycip Salazar Feliciano and Hernandez law firm in 1986.
Starting in1994 up to 2008, she served as legal counsel of various government offices such as the Office of the President (OP), Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), Dept. of Trade and Industry (DTI), and WTO-AFTA. Sometime between 1995 to 1996, she headed the Information and Public Division office of the UP Law Complex.
Also, in 1995, she served as consultant for Judicial Reform of the UNDP, WB, and USAID; she served in this capacity up to 2002.
In 1999, she served as Commissioner and Chairperson of the Steering Committee of the Preparatory Commission on Constitutional Reform.
Sereno was a lecturer at the Dept. of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Foreign Service Institute from 1996 to 2007.
She served as a lecturer in Electronic Commerce Law at the AIM in 2000, at the same time, at the Murdoch University lecturing on International Business Law from 2001 t0 2002. She also lectured on International Business Law at the University of Western Australia from 2003 up to 2007.
Sereno became president of ACCESSLAW, Inc. in 2000, a post she continues to enjoy up to the present.
Sereno was the key writer on Law and Economics and the Constitution and Judicial Review of Economic Decisions.
She also drafted the legal framework for the operations of the first paperless trading of securities in the country for the Bureau of Treasury (BT).
Sereno was not automatically nominated for the top judicial post for being one of the most junior magistrates of the Supreme Court, rather, she was nominated by the following:
Sereno authored the Supreme Court decision nullifying the proclamation of a state of emergency in the southern province of Sulu in 2009 during the kidnapping of 3 members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
The high court en banc, in the decision dated July 3, 2012, held that only the President of the Republic of the Philippines is vested with emergency powers and, as commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and leader of the Philippine National Police (PNP), call out the military and state security forces to respond to a state of emergency, local or otherwise.
Sereno wrote: "[I]t has already been established that there is one repository of executive powers, and that is the President of the Republic... Corollarily, it is only the President, as Executive, who is authorized to exercise emergency powers as provided under Sec. 23., Art. VI, of the Constitution, as well as what became known as the calling-out powers under Sec. 7, Art. VII thereof."
She also penned the decision finding 5 members of Ateneo De Manila Law School's Aquila Legis Fraternity liable for the brutal hazing of Leonardo "Lenny" Villa in February 1991.
In the resolution, the high court held that Fidelito Dizon, Antonio Mariano Almeda, Junel Anthony Ama, Renato Bantug, Jr. and Vincent Tecson were found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide.
In her ponencia, Sereno wrote: “[T]he collective acts of the fraternity members were tantamount to recklessness, which made the resulting death of Lenny a culpable felony. It must be remembered that organizations owe to their initiates a duty of care not to cause them injury in the process. With the foregoing facts, we rule that the accused are guilty of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide. Since the NBI medico-legal officer found that the victim’s death was the cumulative effect of the injuries suffered, criminal responsibility redounds to all those who directly participated in and contributed to the infliction of physical injuries."