Rothert earned his bachelor's degree in 1930 and law degree in 1937, both from Stanford. He was a trial lawyer who specialized in civil law. He founded a law firm in San Francisco, and taught at Stanford Law School and Hastings College of Law. During World War II, he spent two years in the Marine Corps.[1][3]
In 1996, he was part of the Olympic Torch Relay. Around that time he had an acute inflammation in his legs and had to practice every day to cover the targeted 2 km distance using a specially designed walker.[1] He died in 1997, aged 89.[3]