National Security Law Career Guide

By Michael Umberger
Updated November 2019

CIA headquarters
Books

Bernard Koteen Office of Public Interest Advising, Harvard Law School, National Security Law: A Career Guide (PDF) (2014)

Careers in National Security Law (Laura Bean ed., 2008). 
KF4850.C37 2008 (Career Services)

R.L. Hermann, Landing a Federal Legal Job: Finding Success in the U.S. Government Job Market (2011).
KF299 .G6 H473 2011 (Career Services)

Articles

William J. Dunn, Going Forward: Improving the Legal Advice of National Security Lawyers, 32 B.C. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 241 (2009).

Ryan A. Little, The Big Lebowski: The Dude's Lessons in Law and Leadership for Military and National Security Attorneys, 37 Pace L. Rev. 191 (2016). 

Michael B. Mukasey, The Role of Lawyers in the Global War on Terrorism, 32 B.C. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev. 179 (2009).

Karen Taylor, Careers in National Security Law, Student Lawyer, March 2006, at 29.

Lisa L. Turner, Developing Client-Ready Practitioners: Learning How to Practice National Security Law at Military Law Schools, 7 J. Nat'l Sec. L. & Pol'y 1 (2014).

Government Agencies 

Central Intelligence Agency (Careers and Internships) 

Department of Homeland Security (Careers)

Federal Bureau of Investigation (Careers)

Intelligence Community (Careers)

National Security Agency (Careers)

Organizations

American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security
This Committee conducts studies, sponsors programs and conferences, and administers working groups on law and national security-related issues. 

  • Career Planning (listing of organizations that employ national security lawyers)

Center on Law Ethics and National Security
Duke Law School's Center on Law, Ethics and National Security sponsors teaching, research and publications concerning national security law topics, as well as conducting conferences and seminars in the national security field.

Center on National Security and the Law Georgetown University Law Center's Center on National Security and the Law  provides research, training, outreach, and discussion on issues of national security law. 

Center for National Security Law
University of Virginia Law School's Center for National Security Law has an active publication program and sponsors scholarly conferences and national security law courses.

Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism
Syracuse University's Institute for National Security and Counterterrorism is a multidisciplinary, university-based center for the study of national and international security and terrorism.

Photo:  Associated Press