Another way to get into the spotlight?

As a follow-up to my post yesterday on the next Clooney/management consultant flick (I like to make it seem like there have been many preceding this one), I've come across another way for consultants to get their name up on the marquis. Certainly, many consultants will be able to shine in cleaning up the muck left behind by innumerable financial firms, but one way to really stand out is to capitalize on the also innumerable stupid athletes out there. The field of prison consultants must be bustling these days!

Case in point: Plaxico Burress, who has brought on a prison consultant to prep him for the next two years of his life, which he'll spend behind bars. After dramatically revealing his concealed weapon at a Manhattan nightclub, Burress is now concerned with figuring out "how to use his period of confinement as productively as possible," said his lawyer Benjamin Brafman. Michael Vick likely had similar goals.

What is a prison consultant, you ask? It's someone who will help place a convict in the optimal prison for his/her needs, steer the individual through the orientation process and help navigate the informal culture and relationships within the prison. They must also develop good relationships with the prison guards to be able to advocate for their client. They seem like a nice, wholesome breed, actually …

And considering their clientele, prison consultants don't seem to have any trouble eking out a nice little purse for themselves. According to Slate, "The wealthiest criminals are typically charged by the hour, with total bills in excess of $10,000. Lesser drug traffickers and violent convicts may hire a second-tier prison consultant—often a former inmate selling a package of services from $1,000 to $5,000. Prison consultants do sometimes take pro bono cases."

And hey, considering all that's gone on in the financial world over the past year, consultants in the financial sector may just find themselves looking at an opportunity to moonlight as a prison consultant.