( CNN ) -- New junior federal prosecutors literally started in the basement of the U.S. courthouse in downtown Brooklyn . I moved into my subterranean office in January 1990 . A few weeks later , Loretta Lynch moved into her new digs down the hall . We were assistant U.S. attorneys in the Eastern District of New York , which covers Brooklyn , Queens , Staten Island and Long Island . The work of this U.S. attorney 's office is unglamorous , especially for new hires . Our jurisdiction included John F. International Kennedy Airport in Queens , so our introductory cases often involved low-level drug smuggling , especially the `` swallowers '' who ingested condoms full of cocaine or heroin . Lynch thrived in that chaotic environment . And now , two-plus decades later , it looks like she will be the next attorney general of the United States . She has been U.S. attorney twice in the courthouse where she came up -- first under President Bill Clinton and currently under President Barack Obama . She is not a well-known figure , even in New York . She is a workhorse , not a show horse , and she has flourished doing the hard , ordinary work of federal prosecution -- narcotics cases , organized crime ( always big in Brooklyn ) , public corruption ( ditto ) and civil rights violations . Lynch has showed her strengths more as an administrator than as a courtroom performer . She always had good relations with the U.S. attorney 's `` clients '' -- the FBI , Drug Enforcement Administration and other law enforcement agencies . Still , against heavy pressure from the New York police , she led a full investigation and prosecution of the horrible assault of Abner Louima by NYPD officers in 1997 . She is a tough and successful New Yorker , but she has also never forgotten her North Carolina roots . There is a Southern graciousness about her ( and her accent ) , and it will certainly be on display in any confirmation hearings . Two major questions loom over her prospective tenure as attorney general . First , will she continue the emphasis on voting rights that Eric Holder displayed ? The answer is almost certainly yes . Like Holder , she comes from the generation after the civil rights movement , but it is part of her DNA , and that will come through in her priorities . The more interesting question involves drugs . Holder moved carefully but steadily to reduce federal prosecutions of low-level narcotics offenses , especially marijuana . In addition , he started plans to lower the sentences of federal inmates who were convicted under those laws . Will Lynch continue these efforts ? She has no public track record on these policy issues , though she has aggressively prosecuted narcotics offenders in Brooklyn . This area offers a possible route for cooperation with some Republicans , like Sen. Rand Paul , who were sympathetic to Holder on this issue . In any event , one verdict is clear : Lynch has come a long way from that basement we shared .
Jeffrey Toobin , who worked with Loretta Lynch , says she thrived in chaotic U.S. court in Brooklyn . She showed strength there more as administrator than courtroom performer , Toobin says . He asks if she will keep Eric Holder 's voting rights ' emphasis if tapped as attorney general . Toobin : And will she continue Holder 's efforts on reducing drug penalties ?