Judge Richard Paez of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is taking senior status after 21 years on the bench.

Paez is the third Ninth Circuit judge to announce plans to go senior, a form of semi-retirement, this year. Judges Marsha Berzon in San Francisco and Susan Graber in Portland, Oregon, are both slated to pull back from full, active service when their successors are confirmed.