Advice for Attorneys with Clients with Security Clearances
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BY BRIAN G. SMITH
ecurity clearances are not an issue most people outside of the military and intelligence community think about in their everyday lives, until a major leak of classified information makes the news or there is a discussion of some current or former government official’s security clearance status. There is a perception, probably thanks mostly to TV and movies, that only a few select people have security clearance, and that those elite few all know whether UFOs exist and who was *really* responsible for the Kennedy assassination. The reality is much more mundane. Approximately 4.2 million people hold a security clearance in the United States,1 in jobs ranging from janitorial staff, public afBrian Smith is fairs, program managers, accountants, a partner with engineers, IT specialists, and intelliLaLuzerne & Smith, Ltd. gence analysts, just to name a few. In addition to With numerous federal agencies helping clients and defense contractors having offices with all stages in the Chicagoland area, and 23,000 of the securisailors, recruits, contractors, and city clearance process, he vilian government employees at Great practices in the Lakes Naval Station in North Chicago, 1
Federation of American Scientists, Fiscal Year 2019 Annual Report on Security Clearance Determinations, https://sgp.fas. org/othergov/intel/clear-2019.pdf, pg. 7.
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many attorneys in Lake County likely represent clients in legal matters that could affect their security clearances. Often, the clearance holders aren’t aware of the reporting requirements of various life events, and attorneys either aren’t aware of their client’s clearance status or don’t know how to advise their clients when it comes to resolving a case in a manner favorable to their client’s clearance. This article aims to make practitioners more aware of potential issues and how to give wise counsel to their clients.
area of DUI, traffic, and criminal defense, school law, and police and fire pension litigation. He is an intelligence officer with the United States Navy Reserve.
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET AND STAY CLEARED? There are three levels of national security clearances: Confidential, Secret, and Top Secret.2 The higher the clearance, the more tightly controlled the information is, and thus 2
Executive Order 13526, Sec. 1.2.