Security and Law Area Group

Legal practice in the area of national security ranges broadly over diverse subject matters requiring the exercise of widely varying legal skills. “National security” is itself an umbrella concept that encompasses an ever-expanding sphere of problems and issues. From the international to the domestic, the national to the local, national security implicates not only the governmental but also the private realms and implicates the political, economic, social, and military domains, among others. Moreover, it draws on an equally diverse range of legal subjects, from constitutional and international law, to the legal frameworks regulating both domestic and foreign intelligence and surveillance, to the criminal law, law enforcement, and the regulatory state, to the legal regimes structuring and governing the executive branch and jurisdictional doctrines limiting and shaping judicial review in matters pertaining to national security and foreign policy. Some or all of these areas will be essential to the different kinds of national security careers students may choose to pursue, whether in traditional litigation or transactional practices, government, or more policy-oriented positions. As a result, students are advised to pursue a broad legal education, taking courses in constitutional law, federal courts, international law, the law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law, the regulatory state, executive branch lawyering, among others. At the same time, our upper-level offerings provide students with the opportunity to focus on core areas of national security law. All students are advised to take the general survey course in National Security Law. Likewise, courses in Intelligence Law and in Cybersecurity Law provide instruction in core aspects of national security practice. The Colloquium on Law and Security offers students the opportunity to take a broader more policy-oriented view of emerging issues in national security and to learn from and interact with leading practitioners in the field focusing on a diverse set of topics, from U.S.-China relations to internal threats to democratic institutions. Other courses focus on constitutional law in the field of war and foreign affairs generally and on the domestic legal regimes governing national security and foreign policy making. These offerings enable students to obtain the kind of legal knowledge and skills that are the essential foundation for any career they may choose to pursue in the field.