Judith Susan "Judy" Sheindlin (née Blum; born October 21, 1942), also known as Judge Judy, is an American lawyer, former judge, television personality, producer, and author. Since 1996, Sheindlin has presided over her own successful Daytime Emmy Award–winning reality courtroom series, Judge Judy.Sheindlin passed the New York state bar examination in 1965 and became a prosecutor in the family court system. In 1982 New York City Mayor Ed Koch appointed her as a judge, first in criminal court, then later as Manhattan's supervising family court judge in 1986. Wikipedia