Dave Fehling's 11 News report

He’s the country’s No. 1 prosecutor.

He’s in the hot seat, and he’s from Houston.

He’s Alberto Gonzales.

AP

Alberto Gonzales

From Aldine’s MacArthur High School to the White House, his career has been spectacular by any measure.

But has it now been derailed by accusations of political cronyism?

As Gonzales waits to testify before a Senate committee next week, Houston law firms may be waiting to hire him.

For Gonzales, life in Washington, D.C., is making Houston look awfully good.

“I look forward to the day I can return to Houston,” he said.

The warm applause Gonzales got when he briefly visited Houston last month was in sharp contrast to the cold condemnation he’s getting in Washington.

A political firestorm over the firing of federal prosecutors has led some to say Attorney General Gonzales should himself be shown the door.

If that happens, what then?

Gonzales went to both high school and college in Houston and worked for a big, Downtown law firm. But if he chooses to return home again, will his troubles in Washington really matter?

South Texas College of Law Professor Rocky Rhodes said there are few law firms in all of Texas who wouldn’t fight to get Gonzales to join them.

“Instant name recognition, and that’s a big key,” Rhodes said.

Law firms are big business, competing for new clients. A well-known name on a firm’s marquee can mean a lot.

Just look at one on a building downtown: Bracewell and Giuliani, as in Rudolph Giuliani.

The ex-mayor of New York City and now presidential candidate joined the Houston firm two years ago.

“It may be worth something,” lawyer Larry Findler said. “Rudolph Giuliani is an American hero.”

Findler is a lawyer at a competing firm, HaynesBoone, and is himself a former Federal prosecutor and therefore knows something about the value of having had a high-profile government job.

“It’s worth something, but it doesn’t last forever,” Findler said. “You can leave a government job, go into the private sector and for awhile people may remember who you are, but memories are short.”

Memories may be short.

One example: Henry Cisneros, the Texan who rose fast to become a cabinet member in the Clinton presidency only to be brought down by a scandal over payments to a mistress.

Now he’s a highly successful and honored executive in the housing industry.

But here’s the thing about Alberto Gonzales. If anything, he’s accused of protecting his client, the president, refusing to pass any blame for who or what motivated the firings of federal prosecutors. 

“What client wouldn’t love a lawyer who does exactly that: Who’s extremely loyal to them, puts their interest first over his own personal interests and who was willing to be the fall guy, if you will,” Rhodes said.

A loyal lawyer whose current troubles in Washington might soon be forgotten by clients more than happy to hire the man who once worked for the president.