Two of the more interesting and potentially confirmable of the nearly dozen names floated to replace Alberto Gonzales as U.S. attorney general are Solicitor General Paul D. Clement and retired New York federal judge Michael Mukasey.

Clement’s agreement to step in as acting U.S. attorney general until a permanent replacement can be found does not give him an inside track to get the job, according to Rachel Barkow, criminal law professor at New York University Law School.