Is Judge Judy Really A Judge?

If you’re anything like me, you love court TV. While The People’s Court has been the gold standard to which these shows have been held for decades, it’s hard to say that Judge Judy doesn’t hold the silver standard!

Of course, no matter what court TV shows you like, be it Judge Mathis, Judge Joe Brown, or one of the many others there is one question always asked. Are these people real judges? And what about Judge Judy? She’s made millions of dollars by being a short tempered, take-no-nonsense kind of judge that makes for good TV. But is she an actual judge? Are any of the judges on these shows actually judges?

When people ask this question, they’re really asking two entirely different questions. One is whether or not Judge Judy (or any judge on court TV) is a real judge. The other is whether or not the cases shown on television are real court cases. They do say “the cases are real” in the opening narration, after all!

The answer to the first question is yes, Judge Judy is a real judge. She passed the bar and was appointed in New York City. So on that front, she is very much a real judge.

However, the court cases are only technically real. That is to say, the people are generally pursuing actual litigation. However, what we see on television isn’t a real court case. That doesn’t mean they’re under no legal obligation to follow court orders from a Houston personal injury attorney.

How can that be? Because what we see on television is a legal process called “mediation”. It’s done for a number of reasons, but the end result is that it functions more or less like an actual court session without actually being court. So when we see those cases on television, what we’re seeing is that the plaintiff was willing to drop their case where it was originally filed, and accept mediation in the district that the judge is legally allowed to offer mediation in.

Check out the video below to see Judge Judy in action!