Sotomayor begins working as an ADA at the New York DA’s office in 1979, the year the city experiences a massive crime wave. The city’s fiscal troubles cause budget cuts that prevent the police department and DA’s Office from adding staff to cope with the crisis. Compounding the existing problem are “rising tensions” that increase “police brutality complaints” (215).

New ADAs, called “ducklings,” do not choose where they are assigned (215). They handle misdemeanors, are later promoted to felonies, and then to specialized crimes (215). First, they must learn to navigate “the procedural maze” (216). They go on patrols to understand police work, and every sixth day, they spend a nine-hour shift in the “complaint room,” where they interview “arresting officers and witnesses” to draw up each case’s initial charges. Sotomayor compares it to “a hospital ER on a rough night” (216). She enjoys the organized chaos as well as “the pressure to improvise, the comfort of clear rules, and the inspiration of a higher good” (216). To meet New York’s “extraordinary challenges,” Morgenthau, called “the Boss,” had created “a model of efficiency and integrity for jurisdictions across the country” (216). Still, the city’s cash-strapped state cannot be compensated for, reflected in poor working conditions—dim lighting, frayed electrical cords, leaky plumping, and unreliable temperature control.