By Lisa Stansky

The role of law and lawyers in the national security arena was determined long before Sept. 11. Consider, for instance, that the American Bar Association launched its Standing Committee on Law and National Security back in 1962. That year, the fateful month was October, marked by the Cuban missile crisis.

"There’s long been a small, discrete bar that practiced national security law, largely made up of [former] government officials," says Thomas Crocker, a partner with the Washington, D.C., office of Alston and Bird. Crocker chairs the ABA Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice’s committee on defense and national security.

Nowadays, however, as government and businesses adopt tactics to make America a safer place to live and work, law students can pursue related career opportunities not just in the public sector, but in the private sphere as well.

National security "clearly is a growth industry" for lawyers, says William Banks, a Syracuse University law professor who co-authored the textbook, National Security Law. Part of this growth, he explains, stems from increasing awareness among government agencies of the legal angles of national security concerns, ranging from trade and customs regulation to immigration to human rights and beyond.

"This isn’t a fad," Banks says. "The career opportunities are rich and growing."

Among the flurry of government action after Sept. 11 was Congress’ swift enactment of the USA Patriot Act, which Crocker calls the most substantial rewrite ever of federal criminal statutes regarding money laundering. He explains that while the changes were aimed at choking off the resources of terrorists, they have repercussions for the entire economic community, which must get up to speed with the law’s provisions and take pains to comply with revised legal standards governing record-keeping of business transactions.

Robert Lutz, a professor at Southwestern University School of Law and chair of the ABA Section of International Law and Practice, agrees that the aftermath of Sept. 11 will generate this type of legal work in the private sector. He adds that lawyers also will be kept busy with the legal ramifications of their business clients’ increased interest in more tangible security issues such as employee screening.

Both Banks and Lutz advise students not to overlook one newer growth area in the field of national security law: the state and local governments that are initiating or strengthening anti-terrorism programs. The statutes, administrative regulations, management plans, and terrorism response plans that are in development will generate legal issues, hence business for lawyers.

The federal government has long been the natural place for lawyers seeking experience in the national security field, and that hasn’t changed. Aside from opportunities with the Department of Justice, the FBI, the CIA, and, of course, the National Security Agency and Department of Defense, don’t forget about the Departments of State and Treasury, says Elizabeth Rindskopf Parker, former chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security.

The military is perhaps the most promising—and most overlooked—field for national security practice, adds Parker, who has held positions as general counsel of the National Security Agency (NSA), deputy legal adviser to the State Department, and general counsel of the CIA. She points out that each division of the armed services has an office of the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, "where a great amount of really fine work is done."

Government agencies "are the logical places" to seek career opportunities in the field, says Stephen Dycus, a professor at Vermont Law School and co-chair of the Section of International Law and Practice’s committee on arms control and national security. He agrees that the military provides many opportunities for legal work, such as the ongoing need to draft wills and trusts for service personnel.

What types of knowledge do new graduates need to tackle national security law issues? "They should take all of the constitutional law and administrative law they can get their hands on," Banks advises.

"Having a solid knowledge in international subjects will be helpful," Lutz adds. Also, when taking those con law classes, pay special attention to the links between constitutional issues and foreign affairs, he says.

Don’t write off your chances if your school doesn’t offer a course in national security. Parker says it’s far more important for job candidates to demonstrate strong performance in core courses.

The classroom diet for a prospective national security lawyer should be a well-balanced one, she explains. "It should include all of the solid meat-and-potatoes courses that students don’t always like to take and sometimes shy away from," Parker says. Don’t just pad your résumé with intriguing-sounding choices, she adds, emphasizing that employers want to see mastery of legal analysis in core subjects such as business, securities, and tax, which help students master principles useful in other practice areas.

Through reports from former students, Dycus provides a glimpse at what the work can be like. One recent law graduate landed in the general counsel’s office of the CIA and is prosecuting criminal cases involving violations of espionage laws.

Dycus emphasizes the high level of personal commitment among lawyers who enter the ranks of these governmental agencies. People go to work for the NSA to contribute to society, not to get rich, he says. "These motives have attracted some enormously bright, public-spirited kinds of people."

Lisa Stansky (nolawritestuff@cs.com) is a lawyer and freelance writer in New Orleans.

Want to know more about your prospects in national security law and the multitude of related substantive issues? First go to the web site for the ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security (www.abanet.org/natsecurity). Check out the internship opportunities available during the school year and the summer and sign up for the mailing list to receive the National Security Law Report.

Then head for the Section of International Law and Practice (www.abanet.org/intlaw.html), which students can join for $15 a year. As a member, you’ll receive subscriptions to International Law News and The International Lawyer, plus the opportunity to join committees and network with professionals in the field. Be sure to look into the section’s committee on arms control and national security.

The Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice (www.abanet.org/adminlaw) has a committee on defense and national security, which you can find out more about by joining the section at the student membership rate of $10. Other benefits of membership in the section include subscriptions to Administrative & Regulatory Law News and the Administrative Law Review.

For information about state and local government legal activity, go straight to your ABA source: the Section of State and Local Government Law (www.abanet.org/statelocal). For the $10 membership fee, you’ll get subscriptions to The Urban Lawyer journal and State and Local Law News.

To learn about how the ABA promotes the legal rights of immigrants, visit the web sites of the Coordinating Committee on Immigration Law (www.abanet.org/publicserv/immigration.html) and the Immigration Pro Bono Development Project/Bar Activation Program (www.abanet.org/immigprobono).

Among the other ABA entities that focus on legal issues with national security ramifications are the Section of Criminal Justice (www.abanet.org/crimjust), the Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities (www.abanet.org/irr), and the Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division (www.abanet.org/govpub). All offer membership for ABA/LSD members at reduced rates.