The LA Times seems to feel Alberto Gonzales is a generally moderate man who is not easily described in ideological terms. Staff writer Richard B. Schmitt reports in "Sizing Up Man Who Would Be Atty. Gen."

In November 2000, the Texas Supreme Court, fast shedding its long-standing reputation as a friend to injured workers and other plaintiffs, did something unexpected.

Taking the lead was Alberto R. Gonzales, the court's newest member, who had been appointed by George W. Bush, the governor at the time.

While the presidential election ballots were still being counted in Florida, the staunchly pro-business court in Texas revived a lawsuit that had been filed by the family of a deceased metal pourer. The laborer had died of a lung disease caused by years of exposure to asbestos fibers at the aluminum plant where he had worked for 25 years.

Lower courts had dismissed the suit because the man had brought a previous case over another asbestos-related condition he suffered, and state law barred plaintiffs from filing multiple suits for the same toxic exposure. But the state's high court, in an opinion written by Gonzales, overturned that ruling.

"Permitting limitations to run on terminal injuries before the plaintiff knows of them is unjust," Gonzales wrote. He added that the interests of the asbestos companies "must be balanced against the plaintiff's need of an opportunity to seek redress for the gravest injuries, those culminating in wrongful death."

The opinion by Gonzales, President Bush's nominee to become the next attorney general, suggests he might be less doctrinaire than his work as White House counsel indicates.

Gonzales, of course, is a man who also called the Geneva Convention "obsolete" and "quaint."

But friends and former associates, and even some adversaries, say Gonzales also has shown a balance that has been obscured in his service to Bush over the years.

Now, with his presumed ascent to the top of the Justice Department, people are starting to wonder which Gonzales will show up for work: the relative moderate who emphasizes a low-key, fact-based approach to the law, or the ardent advocate who follows the marching orders of his president and friend and his expansive view of presidential power.

The piece is definitely interesting and worth reading this morning, should you not be at Target rushing to get holiday gifts.