Legal Challenges for the Security Profession
At the October 2022 ASIS Rochester meeting, Attorney Christopher Lattuca, Partner Stark/Lattuca, provided an informative session and case example on legal concerns facing security professionals and companies.
The focus of the discussion was primarily on Civil Law (versus Criminal law). Civil law cases are often related to failures to follow statutes and contracts while Criminal law cases often deal with intentional acts that break government laws (homicide, drunk driving, etc.)
There are two types of damages that can be awarded to victims in Civil cases: Compensatory and Punitive. Compensatory include Economic and Pain/Suffering. Economic are generally reasonably calculated damages (e.g. lost wages); Pain/Suffering awards are typically >$1M. Punitive based on Intentional Tort are generally not coved by any type of insurance as they are intentional acts of misconduct.
The key protection for security professionals and companies is to limit exposure and reduce any conveyance of a 3rd party beneficiary (a person who is not a contracting party of a contract but can still receive the benefits from the performance of the contract). In order to do this, it is very important to be very specific about what duties/responsibilities are being taken on in the contracting process and then to follow those duties/responsibilities with very little to no discretion applied. There should be no open ended categories in the contracting documents. When defining responsibilities, potential situations should be considered and the proper protocols and procedures applied or clearly defined to handle these to minimize discretion.
While the contract is between the security company/professional and the client, it is also important to identify and duties or obligations to any 3rd party beneficiaries.
ASIS Rochester thanks Attorney Christopher Lattuca for speaking at our September 2022 meeting.
