Judge Judy passed the torch to son Adam Levy with one blunt piece of advice
Judge Judy Sheindlin's son Adam Levy recalled how his famous mother displayed her trademark bluntness while encouraging him before he took the bench for his new syndicated reality court series "Adam's Law."
Levy, 57, is the presiding judge on the show, which was created by Sheindlin, 83, who also serves as an executive producer through her company Queen Bee Productions. "Adam's Law" is also produced and distributed in national syndication by CBS Media Ventures.
During a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Levy shared the advice that Sheindlin gave him before the television icon handed off the gavel to her son.
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"She said, 'You've got this. I know you've got this. Have fun, do what you do, don't let people lead you to places where you don't feel comfortable, be true to yourself, and don't screw this up,'" Levy said with a laugh. "That's what she said."
Prior to her TV fame, Sheindlin was a New York Family Court judge known for her no-nonsense courtroom style. She was appointed to the New York Criminal Court in 1982 and became the supervising judge of Manhattan Family Court in 1986.
Sheindlin skyrocketed to fame after she was featured in a 1993 "60 Minutes" segment that introduced viewers to her tough, outspoken courtroom demeanor. She went on to star in the syndicated courtroom hit "Judge Judy" for 25 seasons from 1996 to 2021.
During its run, "Judge Judy" was the highest-rated courtroom show on television, regularly drawing millions of viewers and becoming one of the most successful syndicated programs in TV history. After wrapping "Judge Judy" in July 2021, Sheindlin returned to the courtroom that November with the Amazon streaming series "Judy Justice."
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Earlier this month, Sheindlin announced that the October finale of "Judy Justice" would mark her retirement from appearing on TV, and she was passing the torch to Levy.
Levy is the son of Sheindlin and her ex-husband Ronald Levy, who also share son Jamie Levy. He has practiced law for 25 years and previously served two terms as the Putnam County District Attorney in New York.
Before launching "Adam's Law" on Sept. 14, Levy appeared as a presiding judge on Prime Video's "Tribunal Justice" and "Justice on Trial," two courtroom series created by Sheindlin.
While speaking with Fox News Digital, Levy confessed that he was worried about how his mother would judge his performance when he made his TV debut on "Tribunal Justice." He admitted to feeling pressure to live up to her legacy, and he was anxious over being labeled a "nepo baby."
"I was nervous," he recalled. "Not doing what I was doing, that was in my wheelhouse. I didn't want to disappoint her. And I knew that there were a lot of other people, a lot of other lawyers and judges that were just as qualified, if not more so, to be in the seat I was in."
"And, but for my DNA, I would still be trying cases someplace else," he continued. "So there was a lot of pressure to prove that, and it wasn't even to myself — because I knew that, again, it was in my wheelhouse — but to show everyone, ‘Listen, I get it. I get this whole nepo baby stuff. I do.’ And I can understand why people sometimes are disappointed and angry and upset and at the offspring of famous people."
"But at the same time, I just wanted people to give me a fair shot, a chance," Levy added.
Levy recalled feeling relieved when Sheindlin told him that he was "a natural" after watching him on "Tribunal Justice."
"When she saw me for the first time, she said, 'There, now you know. Now you've got nothing to worry about.' And that was nice to hear," he said.
Levy told Fox News Digital that while Sheindlin has never criticized the rulings that he makes on his shows, she has sometimes shared how she would have handled the cases differently. He explained that the two regularly discuss his cases and Sheindlin is continuing to actively mentor him.
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"She's hands-on," he said. "She's not retired. She is rewired. So, while she may not be in front of the camera anymore, that does not mean that she has removed herself from the courtroom genre."
"She and I discussed many of the cases before they are tried and when they are taped," Levy continued. "We will go over the facts of the case. We will go all over the legal issues, the moral issues, we will go over the background information that I have uncovered and how, if at all, to use it during the trial."
Levy said that his discussions with Sheindlin were in keeping with a tradition that his family members, many of whom include prosecutors and defense attorneys, carried on for 30 years.
"Whenever we had cases, we would go out to dinner as a family," he recalled. "And we would — whoever was on trial, we would bring our case file, and we would throw it in the middle of the table."
"Everyone would take a piece, and we'd review it," Levy continued. "We would find the strengths and the weaknesses and how to go about arguing the issues before — whether it was a bench trial with a judge or a jury. I mean, that's what we did."
"And that's what I do now with Judy," he added. "So I think it's seamless. The process is seamless. That's what we do."
Levy explained that his judicial style is "a bit different" than that of his mother, though viewers will also recognize certain similarities.
"It is still about taking personal responsibility for yourself, doing the right thing, telling the truth when you're in court — all of those things are the same," he said. "The way that I go about it though is my own style. It's a little more understanding at times, I think, but when someone comes in to court and misrepresents their case or lies, that's when you'll see the DNA come out."
Levy also shared that his approach to the litigants who appear before him in court was influenced by his upbringing under Sheindlin's watchful eye. He told Fox News Digital that he and his brother Jamie could "never" get away with anything while they were growing up.
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"I kid around, and I say, hundreds of millions of people have watched her over the last 30 years. And they see a tough lady, a tough judge, cutting through the nonsense, and they see it every day," he said. "I, when I saw her on TV, would say, 'Yeah, that's exactly who I grew up with. Exactly.'"
"And when the litigants would say something that offended her sense of common sense, or said something that was demonstrably false, I could sympathize with that litigant because I, as a kid, would try to do the same thing," Levy continued. "And when they would say it, I would just close my eyes and wince because I knew what was coming. And she never disappointed me while watching her on the show."
"But in all fairness, at the same time, I also remember when things would happen, and I would tell the truth as a child, as a teenager, and she did not believe something I said that was the truth," he shared. "And I remembered how that felt. And so with that in mind, as I'm doing the show now, as part of my own style, is not to so quickly reject something someone says if it sounds or if it would seem to be inconsistent with common sense."
"Sometimes, things happen that are inconsistent with commonsense," Levy noted. "Everyday life, things just — you get a curveball. And just because you get a curveball, and you respond to that curveball in a certain way doesn't mean that — and you tell about it — doesn't mean that you're lying."
Levy explained that his childhood experiences led him to make a major format change to "Adam's Law" that differentiated the series from his mother's courtroom shows.
On "Judge Judy," Sheindlin generally questioned litigants and reviewed the case file as the proceedings unfolded on camera. She would receive the case materials at the start of each hearing, summarize the dispute, and then question the parties, with much of the evidence being introduced during the televised proceeding.
However, Levy said that he built more time into his process so he could thoroughly vet each case before litigants stepped into his courtroom.
"I insisted on changing the format to requiring the litigant to provide their evidence before they come to the show so that I could review it," he said. "And if something did seem off, I was able to examine it, do a background check on it."
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"I was able to spend a little more time or no — I could spend a lot more time," Levy continued. "Sometimes it would take me a day, one full day, to review one case that would end up 17 minutes on TV."
"It would take me 48 hours sometimes to go through it to make sure that, at least to me, I got it right. Because I didn't want to accuse someone of being a liar, where they were really telling the truth."
When asked who between himself and his mother would be more likely to show mercy if they heard the exact same case separately, Levy had a definitive answer.
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"I would," Levy said. "Because she has never been on the other end of her takedown. I have."
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"I needed mercy from her, so I'm probably more likely to give it than she is," he added with a laugh.
"Adam's Law" airs weekdays in syndication. Local listings are available on the show's official website.