Lawyers Finding Jobs in the Security Industry

If the word "security" conjures up a picture of a lonely guard at a plant gate, you are undoubtedly wondering why this category has been included in material on non-legal positions for legally trained persons. Actually, the plant guard is only one visible evidence of the vast area of responsibility of the security department, which must develop and monitor a program that will prevent the loss of company property and equipment from theft.

Far less visible but certainly essential today is the protection of company documents and data, and this problem in recent years has become evermore complex. Thus, for example, among current concerns may be protection against computer data theft by unauthorized persons with sufficient technical knowledge to wire themselves into the company's system, or, again, the possibility of a massive credit card counterfeiting.


If the company is involved in the manufacture of products or the processing of material or data for the Federal government, compliance with the Federal security regulations must also be planned and monitored. Consultation with government officials may be necessary to obtain interpretations of these rules and requests for deviations may be necessary where undue hardship is involved.

Implementation of security procedures in the long run will be no better than its implementation by the personnel involved with or working directly with these sensitive areas. Thus manuals must be produced and training sessions undertaken to inform personnel of their duties and responsibilities. Frequent re-checks are necessary to insure that laxness in procedures does not occur due to a passage of time without incident.

A good example of some of the responsibilities in this is a lawyer who is Staff Assistant to the head of the Security Department of a large insurance company. In the performance of his duties he needs to know how to investigate, how to detect crimes, how to deal with customers and employees suspected of irregularities without getting the company involved in false arrests or litigation, and how to assist police, the FBI and District and United States Attorneys in the handling of investigations and prosecutions. In his position he has to know almost as much criminal law as a good prosecutor. His position is not unique.

As business and industry grows ever more complex, so do its protection needs. Legally trained persons working in this area are sure to find new challenges to their skills and inventiveness with every passing year.

For more information on security-related jobs, go to https://www.physicalsecuritycrossing.com/