The Robing Room

Hon. Philip S. Gutierrez	See Rating Details
District Judge	See Comments
C.D.Cal.
Average Rating:3.0 - 45 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%)
Items marked with (*) are averaged into the displayed overall rating

Comments

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What others have said about Hon. Philip S. Gutierrez

Comments

Other

Comment #: 35662
Rating:1.0

Comments:
The most corrupt judge in the United States. The Bribes Seeker.

Other

Comment #: 35121
Rating:10.0

Comments:
i give this judge all the stars in the world he is a very very fair judge

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 34999
Rating:6.3

Comments:
Doesn't understand objections. Tends to overrule to stay "safe"

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 34451
Rating:1.0

Comments:
"Abhorrent bigot" would be too mild a characterization. He's corrupt and seems really dumb. However, corrupt and stupid are qualities which one often finds in the same judge since they are not bright enough to make it on merit.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 34352
Rating:1.0

Comments:
Absolutely appalling. The poster child for ending lifetime appointment of Federal judges.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 33011
Rating:1.0

Comments:
This is a racist, misogynistic, bigoted little man, who has a bad temper. He is unknowledgeable in life and in law. A truly horrible judicial officer, who is being paid over $200K a year to be an idiot. What a system

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 30360
Rating:3.0

Comments:
A very tempestuous man, prone to angry tantrums, and displays a lack of control even in front of the jury. During one trial, he repeatedly commented on the evidence in front of the jury. His rulings on objections were based on his own volatile and unpredictable emotions rather than the law. Twice in written rulings he misquoted cases or misinterpreted the law. He oversimplified legal concepts to get to the answer he wanted. Obviously biased. A very rude and unprofessional man who apparently has no grasp on the concept of equity.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 29676
Rating:4.2

Comments:
This Judge seems to relish finding the easiest answer to complex issues. This is not a compliment.

Litigant

Comment #: 24930
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
This judge takes no time to read the pleadings and makes rulings based on unjustified and preconceived determinations regarding cases. The damage that he did in our civil case is unjustified and inexcusable.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 24751
Rating:1.7

Comments:
In a long career, I can't think of a more biased and unqualified judge. His disregard of the law and the facts in support of his preconceived conclusions was utterly shocking

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 24128
Rating:9.8

Comments:
Based on the comments I was very concerned headed into trial with a client who I felt was being strong-armed by the government in a check cashing scheme. The government was less than ethical and I felt like it would be difficult to get the judge to address it. It was just the opposite. From day one he jumped on the government for misleading the court in motions in limine and he was continually holding their feet to the fire throughout the trial. He even yelled at them twice in front of the jury for asking unethical questions. I found him to be fair and intelligent on his rulings even though I disagreed with him on at least two critical decisions. All in all, I left with a great deal of respect for how he handled a difficult three week trial. I would welcome the opportunity to try another case in front of him.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 22995
Rating:1.0

Comments:
The majority of comments get it right; the minority of commenters are probably related to the guy. He is a very nice man, but he is not a very good judge. He looks for any excuse to get rid of civil cases and doesn't care about the effect that has on the litigants and counsel. If you draw him, good luck.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 22944
Rating:1.2

Comments:
Biased against employees in employment cases, admits to taking the easy way out of opinions, not concerned about getting the law right.

Other

Comment #: 22359
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
How can I find out the capital cases Judge Gutierrez presided over in state court [LA Superior Court, Pomona]? Any guidance is greatly appreciated.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 22353
Rating:3.0

Comments:
Weak judge who is arrogant, lacks common sense and seems to lack the insight one would expect for the federal bench. All the negative comments speak volumes.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 21462
Rating:2.0

Comments:
This judge destroyed a family with his idiotic ruling. The government had agreed to probation, but he gave a two-year sentence that resulted in the deportation of a truly exceptional human being. One hundred people showed up in court to testify on his behalf and demonstrate his contributions to the community, and how he overcame a severe drug addiction. His two little girls are now fatherless. Judge Gutierrez refused to let anyone testify. After unsuccessfully trying to get the government to change its mind and request prison time, he gave my client prison time anyway. He is a horrible judge.

Criminal Defense Lawyer

Comment #: 21421
Rating:2.2

Comments:
He is very, very biased in favor of the government and big business.

Other

Comment #: 21288
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
This judge is one of the most ignorant judges I have ever seen. I don’t know how this guy was appointed to the bench. This judge is a disgrace to our court system.

Other

Comment #: 21282
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
Judge Gutierrez tells bold lies in favor of mortgage fraud. The breadth of his lies is breathtaking, as I describe at: c42009.wix.com/divinejustice. He should be removed from the bench. I hope his type of fraud is the exception, rather than the rule.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 21273
Rating:7.3

Comments:
I wasn't planning on reviewing Judge Gutierrez, but I felt that I needed to chime in when I saw all the negative reviews. They surprise me. This is a good, diligent judge. He doesn't tolerate nonsense, but he was always polite, and read and understood the papers.

Litigant

Comment #: 21217
Rating:Not Rated
Comments:
This judge appears to lack sufficient intelligence to understand simple jurisdictional law. He does not read (or at least fails to reference) memos citing obvious, well-known precedent. Instead, he appears to do extremely facile research of his own, perhaps relying on Google. (Then again, we all know clerks are the real judges. Maybe he's not the guilty party.) Once he takes a side, forget it. He ignored my opponent's blatant mendacity and insulted my honesty when I had been completely candid, and he put it in writing, for the world to see. He went to extraordinary lengths to provide my opponent with a chance to revive a case, after a dismissal that should have been the final nail in the coffin.

My guess is that I only won because I took pains to intimate that he would experience an embarrassing reversal.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 20778
Rating:2.8

Comments:
I got the feeling that Judge Gutierrez uses case management dates as a tool to boot cases out of his courtroom that 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 strictly cut-and-paste, and I sense that his clerk does the heavy lifting. Go back and look at Gutierrez's decisions and you will see that he uses the same points and authorities over and over for various motion types with very little specific substantive application of the law to the facts.

Civil Litigation - Private

Comment #: 20207
Rating:2.0

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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What others have said about Hon. Philip S. Gutierrez

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Criminal Defense Lawyer

Civil Litigation - Private

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Criminal Defense Lawyer

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Criminal Defense Lawyer

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