A young New Orleans attorney who returned to the city after spending most of his early career in New York City has won the crucial backing of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu to become U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana. Kenneth Polite Jr., 37, spent more than three years as a federal prosecutor before coming home to join the Liskow and Lewis firm.

He will need the nomination of President Obama and a U.S. Senate confirmation to succeed former U.S. Attorney Jim Letten, who resigned in December amid a flap over the anonymous online rantings of his first assistant, Jan Mann, and another top lieutenant, Sal Perricone.

"For the region to continue to build and thrive, it is imperative that we have a strong and proven crime fighter to protect the citizens of the Eastern District and root out corruption where it exists so that New Orleans remains the entrepreneurial capital of the nation," Landrieu said.

Polite spent about three years as a federal prosecutor in New York's southern district, located in New York City, one of the most prominent U.S. Attorney's offices in the country. In a brief telephone interview Friday, Polite said his work there focused on organized crime and public corruption.

Before that, he spent six years at the Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom firm, also in New York.

Landrieu sent her one-page recommendation on Friday to Obama, who ultimately makes the nomination to the U.S. Senate. As the ranking senator from the president's political party, however, Landrieu is considered a critical voice in making that decision for the region.

Normally, a senator would recommend more than just a single candidate for a judgeship or federal prosecutor spot. For some other positions, Landrieu has submitted three names to the president.

But in this case, according to Landrieu spokeswoman Amber McDowell, Polite stood out in what was an impressive list of candidates for the post.

University of Richmond Law Professor Carl Tobias said he would expect the White House to move fairly quickly on Landrieu's recommendation, starting with a request for an FBI background check.

"I think the tradition is to give more than one name, but if the president is comfortable with the recommendation I don't think it will make a difference," said Tobias, who closely follows the presidential appointment process for judges and prosecutors.

"This is not a lifetime appointment, like a judge is, and if there's any flack over the selection, it will fall on Landrieu, not the president."

Polite declined to discuss his plans for the office if he wins the job, saying he didn't want to "go too much off script" pending a decision. "I'm honored by the recommendation. If nominated and confirmed, I'm prepared to serve without reservation."

Polite was born to teenage parents in the Calliope housing development, which later became B.W. Cooper and was recently renamed Marrero Commons. His father is a New Orleans police officer who remains on the force after 37 years, and his mother, who once worked in probation and parole, now investigates cases for the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, Polite said.

"My mom was living in the Calliope project at the time I was born. She was 16, and I had family members in the Lafitte (projects) who cared for us after school," Polite said. "I had a great upbringing, very humble beginnings as you can imagine."

Polite attended De La Salle High School on an academic scholarship, and graduated as valedictorian. He then went on to get an undergraduate degree from Harvard University and a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

Polite said he is not registered with a political party.

Former U.S. Attorney Harry Rosenberg, a firm backer of Polite, said despite the candidate's relative youth, he has "a disproportionate amount of maturity and experience for someone his age."

Rosenberg said Polite's personal attributes "will make the transition a lot easier given the challenging circumstances over there."

Perricone resigned in March and Mann in November, after they were unmasked as anonymous commenters who lambasted various targets on NOLA.com, including some high-profile subjects of ongoing federal probes and prosecutions.

A pair of judges demanded answers from Letten's office in response to allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, and an outside federal prosecutor has since been called in by Attorney General Eric Holder's office to investigate.

The scandal -- and particularly Mann's apparent concealing of her own anonymous online postings while she reported to federal judges on Perricone's behavior -- has yet to result in a conviction being overturned. But it ushered Letten into retirement after more than 11 years in office and cast a dim light on an office previously heralded for critical public corruption investigations across the metropolitan area.

U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Metairie, emphasized the office's record when asked about Polite's recommendation.

"Mr. Polite will have some big shoes to fill after the aggressive zero-tolerance approach Jim Letten brought against public corruption, and our community will expect him to maintain that same vigilant approach that has been a critical component of our successful recovery from Hurricane Katrina," Scalise said.

U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, who was outspoken about the brewing commenting scandal last fall, characterized Polite as somebody who can "restore integrity to the U.S. Attorney's Office so that it can again gain the public's trust."

Since Letten resigned in early December, the office has been run on an interim basis by Dana Boente, first U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Polite was among a handful of possible replacements whose names were floated in the legal community soon after Letten resigned.

"I would say Kenneth's strengths are, he's methodical, he's well-prepared, he's personable, he has an easy disposition -- so he's going to be able to get along with folks," Rosenberg said. "Equally important, he's got the experience in the U.S. Attorney's office. He's not a 'newby' in the Justice Department."

Polite is a shareholder in the Liskow and Lewis firm, and has a wide range of practice areas, including business litigation, appellate work, and white collar criminal defense.

But he doesn't boast a raft of high-profile clients. Among the defendants he has represented are businessman Hendrikus "Hank" Ton, a side player in the River Birch landfill investigation.

Ton last fall admitted to his role in a payroll fraud scheme that helped his oil-field supply companies evade almost $3.6 million in taxes between 2006 and 2010. Prosecutors have accused landfill executive Dominick Fazzio of using his accounting skills to help Ton in the scheme. Under his plea deal, Ton agreed to cooperate with the investigation.

Polite also represented Dr. Dan Joachim, a Metairie surgeon who was sentenced last year to six years in prison on charges of health care fraud and child pornography.

Joachim and Physicians Analytical Services were accused of fraudulently billing insurance companies and pension and benefits programs for surgical monitoring services. In addition, FBI agents found 152 images and five videos "depicting the sexual victimization of children" on computers in Joachim's home, according to court records. Polite represented Joachim only on the fraud portion of the case.

In addition to his legal work, Polite is active in a variety of civic roles.

He serves on the Louisiana Civil Service Commission and New Orleans Public Belt Railroad Commission, as well as several non-profit boards. He is also on the board of New Orleans College Prep Charter School in Central City.

Ben Kleban, the chief executive officer, said Polite is a role model for his students.

"He has been a tremendous asset to us in that he grew up in New Orleans and represents everything we hope our kids will have the opportunity to achieve," Kleban said.

Polite's wife, Florencia, is an assistant professor of clinical obstetrics and gynecology at LSU Medical Center. They have two children, ages eight and one, Polite said, and live in New Orleans.

The Eastern District encompasses most of southeastern Louisiana, centered in the New Orleans area.

After Letten's departure, Landrieu formed a team of staffers, led by Jane Campbell, to consider who to recommend to the president. The team consulted with a diverse group of community and legal leaders in New Orleans about the decision, McDowell said.

Shawn Clarke, an attorney who previously practiced at Liskow and Lewis before Polite joined the firm, called the younger attorney a "worthy successor to Jim Letten."

Clarke said he'd worked on criminal environmental defense cases with Polite since his move back to New Orleans. Polite could have made much more money as an attorney in New York, Clarke said.

"Instead he has chosen to come home to the community he grew up in. Now he is prepared to serve in public office," Clarke said. "He is just the kind of guy you need to help this office recover from the recent difficulties it has had."