who pays the court awards on judge judy
Judge Judy The award limit on Judge Judy, as on most "syndi-court" shows (and most small claims courts in the U.S.), is $5,000. The award for each judgment is paid by the producers of the show from a fund reserved for the purpose.[34] Sheindlin rules by either A.) issuing a verdict of a specific dollar amount (not always in the full amount of what is requested and rarely if ever in excess of what is requested even if she believes complainants are deserving of more) or B.) by dismissing the lawsuit altogether. When ruled on in these manners, cases cannot be refiled or retried elsewhere. However, if Sheindlin specifically dismisses the lawsuit "without prejudice", that lawsuit may be refiled and retried in another forum. In some instances, Sheindlin has dismissed cases without prejudice deliberately so that complainants pursue defendants in an actual court of law so that the defendants themselves are held financially accountable, this as opposed to the show. In such cases, Sheindlin has expressed particular aversion to the defendants in question.[35] Further, Sheindlin has dismissed cases without prejudice when she has suspected both the plaintiff(s) and defendant(s) of conspiring together just to gain monetary rewards from the program.[35]
Judge Rinder Like other court shows, Judge Rinder acts as an arbitrator in a form of binding arbitration, not as an actual judge.[2] In 2014 Rinder, who is a barrister at 2 Hare Court Chambers in London, told Legal Cheek that he was "adamant that we had to make it clear to viewers that I am in fact a practising criminal barrister and not a civil law judge." Participants are paid by the production company, which also pays out any damages awarded as a game-show prize, rather than taking them from the loser (hence, both sides emerge financially better off than they would from using a real court). Rinder claims that unlike other TV arbitrators such as Judge Judy who make judgements based on emotion, he makes his purely in accordance with real UK law, and hence the show is educational about real legal principles.