Adam Levy: What You Didn't Know About Judge Judy's Spitfire Son

Judy Sheindlin has been a TV staple since "Judge Judy" premiered in 1996. Over the next three decades, she built a devoted following but decided it was officially time to retire in late 2026. However, as she prepared for the final episode of "Judy Justice" to air that October, Sheindlin announced she wasn't quite finished with television. Indeed, she had decided to continue producing shows, including "Adam's Law," which put her son, Adam Levy, in the spotlight as the new no-nonsense TV judge in the family.

As the series premiered in September 2026, Levy became the focus of "Judge Judy" fans nationwide. However, he was no stranger to the small screen, having previously appeared on Prime Video's "Tribunal Justice" and "Justice on Trial." He also brought nearly three decades of his own law experience to the table. Speaking with USA Today, Levy revealed his apprenticeship actually started when he was a child. "At home is where I learned the first rules of cross-examination," he mused. "I was the victim of these." Indeed, growing up with Sheindlin's tough love wasn't always easy. "When people ask, 'What was it like growing up with Judge Judy?' I say, 'Ask my therapist,'" he joked. Here's everything we know about Sheindlin's spitfire son, Adam Levy.

Judge Judy Sheindlin has earned millions of fans (and dollars) by putting her career on full display, but her personal life is just as interesting. Of Judge Judy's three marriages, two were actually to the same man, and the unions yielded five kids.

Judy first tied the knot with Ronald Levy in 1964 and welcomed Jamie Gail with him in 1966, followed by son Adam Bruce in 1968. However, the pair divorced in 1976, and Judy wed husband Jerry Sheindlin in 1978. At the time, the newlyweds were working as attorneys but would soon both become judges in New York. They settled in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx with Adam and Jamie, as well as Jerry's three children from a previous marriage. Gregory (born in 1964), Jonathan (born in 1967), and Nicole (born in 1968) split their time between their dad's home and their mom's in Nanuet, New York, but they formed an instant bond with their new family. So much so that Adam and his sister never called the Sheindlin kids their stepsiblings, and they, in turn, never referred to Judy as a stepparent.

As Nicole told Westchester Magazine in 2010, theirs was a tight-knit household in which the kids were all treated equally, and as adults. "I liked the way she spoke to me so honestly," Nicole, who was 8 when she met Judy, recalled. Similarly, the children were privy to their parents' careers early on. "A lot of our dinnertime conversations revolved around what happened in the courtroom that day," Nicole shared.

Judge Judy Sheindlin didn't put up with nonsense in the courtroom, and she certainly didn't accept it at home. As she told Fox News in 2024, she was never one for soft parenting, musing, "[Y]ou're not supposed to be friends." Instead, Judge Judy's children were raised by a mother who was focused on teaching them life's most important lessons, not being BFFs. "I always said to my kids, if you do the right thing, you're not guaranteed that the right thing will happen," she shared, revealing the best advice she imparted to Adam Levy and his siblings. "But I can almost guarantee you that if you do the wrong thing ... it will one day come back and bite you in the ass."

With that came the lesson that even the smallest white lie was unacceptable. Recalling his childhood, Adam Levy told the outlet, "[I]f I tried to cover something up because I did something wrong, she always knew." Sheindlin would ask all the right questions and, as he recalled, "I would get all confused, and she knew that I was lying." As frustrating as he found it, he eventually came to see the upside. "I became the cross-examiner that I am because of her," he shared.

What's more, Sheindlin pushed her kids to be self-sufficient. Speaking with People, Levy remembered that his mom forced him to start a side hustle doing laundry for neighbors when he was in fourth grade. "If you want baseball cards, don't ask me for money," she told him.

After growing up with parents who regularly spoke about their law careers at home, Adam Levy's decision to follow in their footsteps likely came as no surprise. Levy graduated from the Maurice A. Deane School of Law at Hofstra University in 1992 but initially planned to take things slow — until his mother intervened. Speaking with People, Levy remembered turning down his first job offer because he wanted a gap year. Judge Judy Sheindlin wasn't impressed, and she took matters into her own hands when the district attorney's office for Suffolk County, New York, called to offer him the assistant district attorney (ADA) position. Sheindlin just so happened to answer the phone and, as Levy recalled, she told them, "[T]his is Adam Levy's mom ... he's going to take that job."

And so, Levy's career began as an ADA before he decided to go private, co-founding the New York-based firm Levy & Santoro. However, things really took off in 2007 when he was appointed the district attorney for Putnam County, New York. He served two terms through 2015 and boasted numerous successes, including a 40% decrease in property crime and the creation of the Putnam County Intelligence Committee. From there, Levy pivoted once more, this time following his famous mom onto television with two consecutive Prime Video shows. First, he appeared as a judge on 2023's "Tribunal Justice," then he joined Sheindlin on 2025's "Justice on Trial." More recently, he landed his own cable series, CBS' "Adam's Law," which premiered in September 2026.

Adam Levy made news for all of the wrong reasons in 2013 when his live-in personal trainer, Alexandru Hossu, was arrested and charged with raping a 12-year-old girl in 2010. Hossu was a Romanian national whose work visa had expired 12 years earlier, but that didn't stop him from getting a job with then-district attorney Levy.

When news of the arrest broke, Levy quickly recused himself from the case to avoid a potential conflict of interest, but then-Sheriff Donald Smith wasn't buying it. He publicly accused Levy of meddling, claiming (via CBS News) that he was "trying to influence and affect the investigation.” Levy denied the accusations in statement (via E! News), saying, "The facts will show my office acted properly in every aspect." However, The Journal News (via USA Today) learned that he did foot at least part of Hossu's legal bill and was all for his brother-in-law representing Hossu. Adding fuel to the fire, the outlet also reported that Levy and Hossu had a long-running personal relationship. Indeed, they were already friends back in 2004 when Hossu was found guilty of stealing nearly $84,000 from the restaurant where he worked at the time.

Ultimately, Hossu was acquitted, and Levy had his own win in court a few years later. Levy filed a $5 million defamation lawsuit against Sheriff Smith in 2013 and eventually won in 2017, earning a $150,000 settlement. "It took four years, but I couldn't be happier," Levy told CBS2.

Adam Levy has kept much of his personal life out of the spotlight, but we do know he married Lori Leichtman in 1995, just three years after graduating from law school. The couple later welcomed three kids: Jacob, Emma, and Sarah Rose Levy. While little is known about Emma's career path, Jacob is reportedly a ski instructor, while Sarah Rose is likely a familiar face to fans of Judge Judy Sheindlin.

After graduating from New York Law School in 2022, Judge Judy's look-alike granddaughter passed the New York State Bar in 2024, all while appearing on her grandmother's show, "Judy Justice," as the law clerk. When Sheindlin retired and passed the torch to Levy, Sarah Rose followed her dad over to his new show, "Adam's Law," which premiered in September 2026. However, rather than appearing on-camera, this time Sarah Rose got a job in the control room where she could steer the show from behind the scenes. "She's the only one who can tell me: 'Land the plane, Dad. Enough,'" Levy told USA Today. As he explained, he would ignore similar instructions from an executive producer encouraging him to cut down his questioning or his verdict, but as he revealed, "I never say 'nope' to my daughter."

Outside of work, the family appears to be an active bunch. At least according to Levy's bio, which notes he likes to ski, scuba dive, and white-water raft whenever he's not in court.

Shortly after Adam Levy's law school graduation in 1992, Judge Judy Sheindlin stepped in to accept a job offer on his behalf. In doing so, she ensured her son's career got off to a strong start with a position in the district attorney's office for Suffolk County, New York. Over three decades later, the mom of five was at it again, pushing Levy to pursue his next big leap as a TV star. Although he'd previously co-starred in two Prime Video series, Levy was cast as the sole star of CBS' "Adam's Law" in 2026. Sheindlin, who created and executive produced the series, officially retired and decided her son was the obvious choice to take over her legacy. "I'm confident that he has that kind of entertaining personality that will endear him to the same viewing public that has embraced me for 30 years," she enthused in the show's trailer. "I am handing this baton over to the right person."

Despite her confidence, Judge Judy's son couldn't escape one shady label as he filled his mom's shoes: nepo baby. However, he was adamant he'd earned the role based on merit. "[S]he doesn't blow smoke up anyone's backside, including mine," Levy told USA Today. "If she didn't think I could do this on my own, she'd just say, 'Not yet.'" Similarly, he told Fox News he was ready to rise to the occasion because "Judge Judy told me I was ready for my own show."

Leading up to the highly talked-about premiere of "Adam's Law" in September 2026, Adam Levy spoke to Fox News about what fans of Judge Judy Sheindlin could expect from his show. In addition to the similar format, Levy offered assurances that his on-air persona wouldn't be all that different from his mother's. "We both can't stand nonsense," he explained. "If you're going to come in, and you're going to lie, neither of us really have much tolerance for that."

Although Levy was never actually a judge like his mother, he planned to bring a good dose of Judge Judy's signature sass to "Adam's Law" while delivering his verdicts. In an interview with USA Today, Levy revealed his favorite Sheindlin quip, which he himself liked to use: "I know when you're lying when your mouth moves." As it turns out, that was a comeback he heard often when trying to outsmart his mom as a kid.

However, the similarities didn't end there, and Sheindlin was sure there was one physical attribute that would help her son succeed. According to Levy, she told him, "You don't have to be as good as me, because you have my eyes, and that's what's going to carry you along." Despite such reassurances, the pressure was on. "I don't want to disappoint her," Levy told Fox News in 2026, quipping, "I don't want the word 'bupkis' next to my name in the will."