Judge DiMango recalls her unlikely journey to ‘Hot Bench’
Hon. Patricia DiMango always wanted to be an administrative judge in Brooklyn, so she saw an assignment to the Bronx as an unexpected disruption of her goal. Just a few years later, Judge DiMango views that assignment as the one that led to her role on the CBS court show “Hot Bench.”
“Life can change in an instant,” DiMango said, recalling her journey to Hollywood.
DiMango remembers sitting at home watching television on a Tuesday night when she got a call asking if she had time to speak with Judge Judith Sheindlin, better known as Judge Judy. Initially, she thought it was a joke, but a few minutes later she heard that unmistakable voice.
“The female caller said, ‘This is Judy Sheindlin,’ and I froze because it was her,” DiMango said. “It was really her. She told me about this new venture and twist on the court TV genre, a three-judge bench. She had already selected two lawyers from LA and was looking for an East Coast judge.”