The Robing Room

Hon. Philip S. Gutierrez	See Rating Details
District Judge	See Comments
C.D.Cal.
Average Rating:2.9 - 23 rating(s)	Please send me alerts on this judge E-mail Address:

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*Temperament:	(1=Awful,10=Excellent)
*Scholarship:	(1=Awful,10=Excellent)
*Industriousness:	(1=Not at all industrious,10=Highly industrious)
*Ability to Handle Complex Litigation:	(1=Awful,10=Excellent)
*Punctuality:	(1=Chronic`y Late,10=Always on Time)
*Evenhandedness in Civil Litigation:	(1=Demonstrates Bias,10=Entirely Evenhanded)
*Evenhandedness in Criminal Litigation:	(1=Demonstrates Bias,10=Entirely Evenhanded)
Flexibility In Scheduling	(1=Completely Inflexible,10=Very Flexible)
General Inclination Regarding Bail	(1=Pro-Defense,10=Pro-Government)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases, Pre-Trial:	(1=Pro-Defense,10=Pro-Government)
Involvement in Civil Settlement Discussions:	(1=Least Involved,10=Most Involved)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases, Trial:	(1=Pro-Defense,10=Pro-Government)
General Inclination in Criminal Cases, Sentencing:	(1=Most Lenient,10=Most Harsh)
Typical Discount Off Guidelines for Cooperators:	(1=10%,10=100%)

Comments
Items marked with (*) are averaged into the displayed overall rating

What others have said about Hon. Philip S. Gutierrez

Comments

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 20778
Rating:2.8

Comments:
I got the feeling Judge Gutierrez uses case management dates as a tool to boot cases out of his courtroom he doesn't like. He has a problem masking his contempt for a case if he doesn't feel it has merit. His personal bias starts to shine through in his rulings and in court proceedings. Also, his law and motion rulings are cut and paste and I sense the clerk does the heavy lifting. Go back and look at Gutierrez's decisions and you will see he uses the same points and authorities over and over for various motion types with very little specific substantive application of law to facts.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 20207
Rating:1.0

Comments:
This is a very bad judge. He is ignorant, lazy, unprofessional, and chronically sides with the government and business interests. He is a disgrace to the bench. A dolt.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 19330
Rating:1.0

Comments:
"RUBBER STAMP PHIL"-As he is known. Rubber stamp for the government and for big business. (and he likes all his cases to end within 5 business days regardless if they require a month)

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 18863
Rating:3.6

Comments:
Needs to stand up to government prosecutors. They are NOT ALWAYS correct, some people have been wrongly accused.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 18716
Rating:1.0

Comments:
A judicial punk. Low intelligence, lazy, inflexible, impatient, rule fetishistic, arrogant. Another W loser.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 18559
Rating:1.5

Comments:
The quality of Judge Gutierrez's orders fluctuates with the quality of his clerks, largely hovering near the "poor" end of the spectrum. Nice man, but generally poor independent understanding of the law and how it applies to the cases before him.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 13257
Rating:3.5

Comments:
Nice man, but very pro-government.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 13139
Rating:1.0

Comments:
This judge selected to protect corporation, this judge is bad news for little small business owner, this judge doesn't not know the law, I am sure most of his case will be handled by 9th circuit court.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 12960
Rating:1.0

Comments:
A nice and personable guy but not a good judge at all. Looks for any reason to get rid of a case no matter how flimsy.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 12806
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Is this guy the reason downtown Los Angeles looks like a lawless dumping ground for trash? The streets are covered in trash due to his wreckless ruling...

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 12350
Rating:1.3

Comments:
Did not at all understand the facts, proving his homework had not been done; unable to comprehend issues of complex jurisdictional questions, showing inability to attend to materially relevant detail; unfamiliar with jurisdictional law, showing judicial incompetence is down the road. Judge simply does not follow law.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 12297
Rating:1.0

Comments:
He should have never should have been put on the bench. His understanding of Supreme Court and other appellate precedent is non-existent.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 12184
Rating:1.0

Comments:
The Ninth Circuit should be seeing a lot of him! He loves to grant summary judgments on issues not even raised by the moving party, without any notice to the opposing party -- an obvious violation of the FRCP!

Lifetime appointments are a disaster these days!

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 12102
Rating:9.7

Comments:
Having never appeared before him before, I was pleasantly surprised. At the hearing, he asked insightful questions and it was clear he had read the papers. He didn't go our way on every issue, but his ultimate order was clear, well-written, and demonstrated a solid understanding of a complex issue. Altogether, he is definitely one of the better judges in the C.D. Cal.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 11220
Rating:2.7

Comments:
A complete and utter lack or understanding of trademark law, initial interest confustion and torte. If you don't want cases on your docket, why are you a judge...kicking them on questionable grounds at best, is for amateurs. Lets hope it is his newness to the bench that is the problem. In a year or two when the 9th Circuit has reveresed a good number of his decisions, will we see him stand and take notice. We are watching.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 10262
Rating:1.5

Comments:
Not a particularly good judge. Makes up his mind quick and comes up with wacky ways to get rid of cases.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 10261
Rating:2.6

Comments:
I get the sense that Judge Gutierrez feels overwhelmed, and thus isn't as well prepared as perhaps he should be. He is not entirely facile with civil law, and is prone to explosions on the bench.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 10175
Rating:1.4

Comments:
Not very good at all. Predisposed to dismiss cases sua sponte even when the legal basis for doing so is nonexistent. Is getting reversed a lot by the 9th Circuit for this. Admittedly, however, his laziness has benefitted my clients more than once when he dismissed cases without basis.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 7839
Rating:9.0

Comments:
It was clear that Judge Gutierrez had read all of the motions himself. He was knowledgeable and extremely bright. I would add that woe to you if you are not prepared. He is also a bit stingy on trial time. All that being said I found him to be one of the best judges in the Central District.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 6981
Rating:1.8

Comments:
Terrible judge. Did not at all understand the issues and the law, or understood the law and simply refused to follow it because of the biases he brought to the case.

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Ratings

What others have said about Hon. Philip S. Gutierrez

Comments

Civil Litigation - Private

Civil Litigation - Private

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Civil Litigation - Private

Civil Litigation - Private

Civil Litigation - Private

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Civil Litigation - Private

Civil Litigation - Private

Civil Litigation - Private

Civil Litigation - Private

Civil Litigation - Private

Civil Litigation - Private

Civil Litigation - Private

Civil Litigation - Private

Civil Litigation - Private

Civil Litigation - Private

Civil Litigation - Private

Civil Litigation - Private