Rinder grew up in the north London suburb of Southgate, where his father was a taxi driver and his mother started her own publishing business from her bedroom. He went to grammar school, then the University of Manchester, but at the time he was called to the bar, in 2001, more than 80% of barristers had been to Oxbridge. Did he feel out of place? “There are two answers to that – yes and no, which is not very helpful,” he says. “The ‘no’ is, I think, being gay and growing up in a working-class community, you intuitively understand you’re outside, from the moment of consciousness of being gay, or even being culturally curious.” There was an idea that certain things – books, music – were for other people. “‘This is for the Hampstead Jews, not the Southgate ones.’ So there was a sense, from a young age, of wanting to reclaim my own thing. I remember, in the silliest way, feeling a different sort of impostor syndrome.” Benedict Cumberbatch's best man revealed as Judge Robert Rinder". The Daily Telegraph. 19 February 2015 . Retrieved 8 September 2016. The Trial is in the best tradition of John Mortimer's Rumpole series. A hugely enjoyable British courtroom drama' Steve Cavanagh In December 2018, Rinder hosted Good Year Bad Year, a one-off special on Channel 4 where Rinder discussed the topical highs and lows of 2018 along with a number of celebrity guests. In 2019, he began hosting the Channel 4 series The Rob Rinder Verdict. [28]

Rob Rinder is a barrister turned writer and broadcaster. In 2014, while still a practising barrister, he began starring in his reality court show Judge Rinder, and he now uses his legal knowledge working in the media to make the law more accessible. He is also the author of three books and a columnist for the Sun and the London Evening Standard newspapers. His participation in Who Do You Think You Are? retraced the story of his Holocaust survivor grandfather and received a BAFTA. The BBC series he presented, The Holocaust, My Family and Me, was aired to wide critical acclaim. In 2020, Rob was awarded an MBE for his services to Holocaust education and an honorary doctorate for his legal work. An engrossing read by someone who clearly knows their subject matter well. I didn't see the ending coming!' Faith Martin Former Strictly Come Dancing contestant Judge Rinder wants to host dating show". Entertainment Daily UK. 30 August 2019 . Retrieved 13 September 2019.

Becoming a barrister suited Rinder’s relatively late-discovered love of learning, the debating skills he nurtured at university and a genuine desire for advocacy. “There’s something enormously powerful about standing between the individual [accused of a crime] and the power of the state. There’s a moment – it happens to all young barristers – where you realise that what you’re doing has the most profound value to uphold democracy under the rule of law. It sounds sanctimonious, or about your own importance. It’s not quite like that.” It’s not about him specifically, he says, more what it means for us all. Brilliant courtroom drama, humorous as you would expect from Rob, and one that I had to read slowly because I did not want it to end' Heidi Perks The ITV show, Judge Rinder, started in 2014 and he was a TV natural. There were some mild accusations at the time that disadvantaged people were being used for entertainment, but although Rinder could certainly be funny and withering, his fundamental kindness was never far from the surface. “Anybody who thinks [it was exploitative] can’t have watched it. Sometimes, you might laugh at somebody because of the silliness.” He gives the example of a woman suing her dentist: “‘Where did you get your teeth done?’ ‘In my mouth.’ You’re going to laugh, it’s funny.” Many of the cases were family conflicts and relationship breakdowns, and he says he was proud that, for some: “It was the first opportunity they had to be forced to be in a space where they would hear one another.” He wasn’t, he says, “eviscerated” by his fellow barristers “because at the heart of it was the integrity of the legal decision, even if it was a silly case”. Energetic, warm, laced with humour with a truly inventive mode of murder' Sarah Vaughan, author of Anatomy of a Scandal Really good. . . Nicely paced with characters that are fully formed, I hope there's more to come from Adam' Press Assocation

This is a book that takes you to the dark heart of the criminal justice system. They're all here - the good, the bad, the innocent and the guilty. I haven't enjoyed a legal thriller this much since Grisham's The Firm' Tony Parsons Rinder still practises law to the extent that he lectures, offers advice to some organisations and mentors young barristers. But he seems more keen to use his profile to highlight issues he cares about. “The reason I make documentaries is because I’m convinced, especially with social media, that political points of view have moved from the logical to the emotional hemisphere of the brain. That’s exacerbated by echo chambers.” People with an opposing view, he says, “interfere with your sense of identity and safety. So how can you have a conversation with goodwill?” He wants more listening, “to say: ‘I hear you’, and mean it. To say: ‘Let me tell you a story.’” Battson, Francesca. "Judge Rinder: Everything you need to know". Closer . Retrieved 20 November 2016.

This is a book that takes you to the dark heart of the criminal justice system. They are all here - the good, the bad, the innocent and the guilty. I haven't enjoyed a legal thriller this much since Grisham's The Firm' Tony Parsons

a b c John, Judge (15 August 2014). "Exclusive interview: Judge Rinder on life as Britain's newest reality TV star". Legal Cheek . Retrieved 6 September 2016. a b c "Judge Rinder and QE". Queen Elizabeth's School. Archived from the original on 16 September 2016 . Retrieved 7 September 2016. Shortly after the programme started, he criticised Judith Sheindlin, the judge of Judge Judy, for making judgements based on her preconceptions while claiming that he applied the law seriously and made "real legal rulings". [17] Despite this, he insisted that it be clarified on the programme that he is a practising criminal law barrister and not a civil court judge. [18] As such, he wears his normal barrister's court dress but without the barrister's wig. [19] Rinder received praise for his cross-examination abilities and acerbic comments. [16] His courtroom includes a gavel and flag of the United Kingdom, neither of which is used in British courts but are on display in American courts and televised court programmes, and his show has been criticised as " The Jeremy Kyle Show set in a small-claims court". [18] [20] Robert Michael Rinder MBE ( / ˈ r ɪ n d ər/; born 31 May 1978) better known as Judge Rinder, is a British criminal barrister and television personality. [1] In 2014, while still a practising barrister, he began hosting the reality courtroom series Judge Rinder. In 2019, he also began hosting the Channel 4 series The Rob Rinder Verdict. Good Morning Britain in presenting shake-up as Rob Rinder replaced with familiar ITV face' ". Manchester Evening News. 18 August 2022 . Retrieved 17 October 2022.This is a book that takes you to the dark heart of the criminal justice system. They are all here - the good, the bad, the innocent and the guilty. I have not enjoyed a legal thriller this much since Grisham's The Firm' Tony Parsons Rinder still brings joy to TV – his facial expressions when he competed on Strictly Come Dancing are seared into my brain – but in recent times he has made serious and moving documentaries, including an exploration of Israel and Palestine and My Family, the Holocaust and Me, both for the BBC. His maternal grandfather, known as Morris, was born in Poland; his family were sent to the Treblinka camp, where they were murdered, but Morris, a fit young man, was sent to work in a factory, then to other forced-labour camps. Being the grandchild of a Holocaust survivor, says Rinder, has “informed my politics, my view of the world, my instinctive reaction to people, this idea of who in the community is a bystander, a rescuer, a perpetrator”. In 1945, his grandfather was one of several hundred Jewish orphans who were flown to the Lake District to begin new lives; Morris lied, saying he was younger than he was to get here. There are parallels with today’s migrant crisis, with young people, particularly men, accused of “faking” their age to come to the UK.

In November 2020, Rinder released My Family, the Holocaust and Me for BBC One; a documentary which helped Jewish families discover the full truth about what happened to their relatives during the Holocaust. The documentary received widespread acclaim, and "a vital history lesson". [30] Rinder, who specialised in international fraud but also took on wider cases – he represented British soldiers charged with manslaughter after the deaths of Iraqi detainees – would often be “the de facto decision-maker on an extremely important decision. Would there be moments where I’d be in that room thinking: ‘What are you asking me for?’ Of course.” Nicholson, Rebecca (9 November 2020). "My Family, the Holocaust and Me with Robert Rinder review – remarkably moving TV". The Guardian . Retrieved 9 November 2020.

O'Sullivan, Kyle (25 August 2020). "Judge Rinder's horror at Nazi death camp ordeal of grandfather who 'didn't look human' ". Mirror . Retrieved 9 May 2021. Houghton, Rianne (2 July 2020). "Good Morning Britain's Susanna Reid worried about editing on Celebrity Gogglebox". Digital Spy . Retrieved 26 January 2021. John, Judge (25 June 2014). "2 Hare Court barrister set to be UK's telly Judge Judy". Legal Cheek . Retrieved 31 March 2017. He would go on a day trip to a stately home, for instance, “and think that it was preposterous that I didn’t live there.” He created his own identity, his own voice, with his clipped tones – “I describe myself as being mugged by a Mitford” – and I can picture Rinder as a sophisticated teenage raconteur amid bewildered school friends. “I didn’t suit the condition of childhood at all well,” he says. “I just thought the whole thing was pointless.” He used to enjoy listening to his mum’s friends complain about their difficult relationships, and although he was fairly popular, his best friend at school was the school nurse. Growing up with my incredibly emotionally literate mum has deprived me of a good five chapters of an autobiography A+E Networks® UK commissions new true crime show with Robert Rinder". aenetworks.tv . Retrieved 7 September 2022.