 In 1984 , she entered private practice , joining the commercial litigation practice group of Pavia & Harcourt in Manhattan as an associate . One of 30 attorneys in the law firm , she specialized in intellectual property litigation , international law , and arbitration . She later said , " I wanted to complete myself as an attorney . " Although she had no civil litigation experience , the firm recruited her heavily , and she learned quickly on the job . She was eager to try cases and argue in court , rather than be part of a larger law firm . Her clients were mostly international corporations doing business in the United States ; much of her time was spent tracking down and suing counterfeiters of Fendi goods . In some cases , Sotomayor went on @-@ site with the police to Harlem or Chinatown to have illegitimate merchandise seized , in the latter instance pursuing a fleeing culprit while riding on a motorcycle . She said at the time that Pavia & Harcourt 's efforts were run " much like a drug operation " , and the successful rounding up of thousands of counterfeit accessories in 1986 was celebrated by " Fendi Crush " , a destruction @-@ by @-@ garbage @-@ truck event at Tavern on the Green . At other times , she dealt with dry legal issues such as grain export contract disputes . In a 1986 appearance on Good Morning America that profiled women ten years after college graduation , she said that the bulk of law work was drudgery , and that while she was content with her life , she had expected greater things of herself coming out of college . In 1988 she became a partner at the firm ; she was paid well but not extravagantly . She left in 1992 when she became a judge . 
