Philip Gutierrez is leaving with a flourish.
The judge who presided over the Sunday Ticket trial — and who transferred $14.1 billion from the plaintiffs to the NFL in one fell swoop on Thursday — is retiring in October 2024, via Alex Schiffer of FrontOfficeSports.com.
“On October 15, 2024, I intend to retire from regular active service,” Gutierrez wrote in a letter to President Joe Biden in January 2024. “It is my intention to continue to render substantial judicial service as a senior judge.”
Gutierrez served as an L.A. County Superior Court judge from 1997 through 2007. He was appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush in 2007. The appointment wouldn’t have happened absent a track record suggesting that his decisions will mesh with the overall Republican, which disfavors public or private regulation of big business. (That’s not a political opinion; it’s an undeniable fact.)
Gutierrez turns 65 two days before his retirement. By rule, that qualifies him for his full current salary in retirement. Nationwide, senior-status judges handle roughly 15 percent of the total workload of the federal courts. It’s voluntary, since the senior-status judge gets his or her full salary anyway.
Meanwhile, the NFL is still looking for a new general counsel.
I’m kidding about the last part. I think.