Max Baer, the chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, died overnight. He was 74.

Mr. Baer was first elected to the Supreme Court in 2003, and was sworn in as its chief justice in 2021. He was set to retire at the end of 2022, after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 75 on Dec. 24.

The state Supreme Court confirmed his death in a news release Saturday morning. A cause of death was not immediately available. Justice Debra Todd, who was set to replace Mr. Baer in January after he retired, will now serve as chief justice, the court announced. She is the first woman to lead the state’s highest court.

Mr. Baer’s Pittsburgh roots are deep. Named after both his grandfathers, David Max Baer began using his middle name in law school at Duquesne University, perfectly happy to have people confuse him with the 1930s heavyweight boxing champ of the same name, according to a profile in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 2003.