Judge Judy's Son Can't Escape One Shady Word As He Fills His Mom's Shoes

Adam Levy is an attorney in his own right, but his credentials haven't made a big impression when it comes to his TV career. While Levy had already acted as a presiding judge on the Amazon Prime shows "Tribunal Justice" and "Justice on Trial," he took it to a whole new level when he inherited the gavel from his famous mom, Judy Sheindlin, AKA Judge Judy. Starting on September 14, 2026, viewers will begin seeing one of Judge Judy's children on their TV sets with Levy's new syndicated court series "Adam's Law." And they can't stop calling the transition a blunt case of nepotism.

"I'm gonna say it..... I don't like him. He's too full of himself for a nepobaby. If his mother wasn't JJ, who would give him a show?" a Reddit user bluntly put it. The netizen was far from alone in this opinion, with some arguing that he'll have a tough time stepping out of his mother's long shadow. "He always seems like he is trying too hard to be JJ. It never comes off as his own voice," a second user said in a reply.

While many argued that Levy has proved he's ready for the gig through his other shows, some others had an issue with the overall premise of making the court series into an overarching family ordeal. "No thanks, we fought monarchies 250 years ago," an X user joked. It's hard to escape the nepo baby label when trying to fill in the shoes of someone as iconic and long-lasting as Judge Judy, but Levy believes he can succeed.

The term nepo baby often implies that the children of celebrities follow similar career paths even when they lack the talent. Adam Levy doesn't think he fits into this mold. "Despite the fact that I have a famous mother, I got the chops as well," he told the New York Post in August 2026.

Judge Judy is a real-life judge, and Levy hasn't spent any real time as a judge in a non-televised capacity, but the Hofstra Law School grad has more than 25 years of legal experience, including having served as a two-term district attorney in Putnam County, New York. In his view, that experience hardly fits the traditional nepo baby definition. While he agrees it will be a tough job, he believes he's ready to show that he isn't simply a fill-in for Judy Sheindlin. " ... I'm here to fill my own shoes and to put my own stamp on it," he said in the New York Post interview. "I'm confident in my own style."

His mother is just as confident. Judge Judy displayed her signature sass amid her son's inheritance of her TV throne, going so far as to claim her son may even be better than her. "Quite frankly, I think he has the talent to beat me, and I don't like the idea of that," she laughed on the "Adam's Law" trailer released in August 2026. Despite wanting to separate himself from his famous mother, Levy doesn't deny that she served as a major inspiration behind his career choices. "Since the fourth grade I knew I wanted to be a lawyer," he told the New York Post. Whether he'll truly be able to step out of Judge Judy's shadow remains to be seen.