On August 14, 2024, he and his son, Ike, became the first duo and the second celebrities overall to win the $1,000,000 top prize for their charity, the ASL Program at Los Encinos School, and the fifteenth overall million dollar winners on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
After graduation, Barinholtz moved to New York to work for a brief time before coming home to Chicago, where he tried a variety of jobs, first directing a children’s theater group, and, later, doing phone sales.
He was accepted to the Loyola University Chicago School of Law on the day his eldest son, actor Ike Barinholtz, was born.
On his first day of law school, Barinholtz was so inspired by Dean Charles W. Murdock’s speech—that lawyers improved society—that he decided then and there to become a practicing attorney.
He represented both the plaintiffs and defendants in matters concerning litigation involving personal injury, product liability, and medical malpractice.
During this time Barinholtz was visiting his sons in Los Angeles for Thanksgiving, and the trio had mutual friends who was the sister of the showrunner, who recommended him.
[4][5] From the encouragement of his sons, Barinholtz shot a one-minute audition tape, portraying a fictional judge and talking off the top of his head.