If you miss Judge Judy, there’s reason for hope. The queen of small claims may have ended her long reign, but the gavel is staying in the family. Her son, Adam Levy, is preparing to preside over Adam’s Law, a new daytime legal series created by Judith Sheindlin.
The program is scheduled to debut on Sept. 14, 2026. CBS Media Ventures is handling its syndication rollout, with the show expected to join local daytime lineups across the country.
Judy Passes the Gavel
For a quarter-century, Judith “Judge Judy” Sheindlin turned minor civil squabbles into a television institution. Her original series wrapped up in 2021 after a dominant run in syndicated television, drawing an audience of about 10 million viewers per episode at its height.
But retiring the original Judge Judy did not mean Sheindlin was finished with television. She went on to launch Judy Justice, and now she is backing a new courtroom series centered on her son. Adam’s Law is a CBS Media Ventures and Queen Bee Productions project, with Sheindlin among its executive producers.
Nepo Baby Judge?
Having Judge Judy for a mother is certainly good branding. But Levy isn't stepping into the role without a legal background of his own.
He has spent roughly 25 years in law, including two terms as district attorney for Putnam County, New York. Levy has also been a presiding judge on Prime Video’s Tribunal Justice and Justice on Trial, and he has taught advocacy skills through the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and the New York Prosecutors Training Institute.
That résumé does not erase the obvious family connection, but it gives Levy more than a famous family. Adam’s Law will be his first time leading a nationally syndicated courtroom show alone.
A Chip Off the Old Bench
The early footage suggests Levy may have inherited some of his mother’s impatience with implausible testimony. When one participant’s account begins to unravel, he tells them: “Think back. You have to keep all your lies straight now.”
That style will be familiar to anyone who watched Sheindlin make a career out of cutting off tangents and puncturing excuses. Her famous warning, “I’m speaking. When my mouth moves, yours stops,” became shorthand for her approach to controlling the courtroom.
Adam’s Law is marketed as a show about people bringing real disputes before Levy in search of a decision. The question is whether Levy can turn a recognizable family formula into a personality-driven series of his own.
The Judge Judy name may get viewers’ attention, but the new judge will need to establish what makes his bench different. He has the prosecutor’s background and the television experience; now he has to show that his voice is more than an echo of his mother’s.
The trailer makes the transition explicit. Sheindlin says that she once hesitated to encourage Levy because she thought he was capable of surpassing her. She now predicts that Adam’s Law will reach the top of daytime television. Is that maternal confidence, a bit of competitive provocation, or both?
The Verdict Is Still Out
Sheindlin’s original program set an intimidating benchmark. Judge Judy led the court-show ratings for every season of its run and made its host one of the most familiar figures in daytime television.
Levy is beginning with meaningful advantages: a prosecutor’s pedigree, prior work as a TV judge, and a production team led by the person who helped create the genre’s defining hit. Still, a famous surname is an opening argument—not a final ruling.
Whether Adam’s Law becomes a fixture of daytime television will depend on whether Levy makes viewers believe the bench is truly his.
