Background checks helping law firms keep integrity. (Entrepreneur's Notebook).

THE terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 spawned a new caution among some international law firms -- but not because these firms see a slowing economy.

Instead, in a little-noticed trend, a handful of large firms now do background checks on "lateral" hire attorneys -- that is, lawyers with a few years of experience behind them -- and on support staffers such as information technology specialists and mailroom clerks.

The trend breaks with long-standing tradition in the legal profession, and the good bet is that law firms of all sizes will follow their lead in the future.

Why? Because law firms take on special, deeply personal obligations of honor and duty in dealing with their clients, and this requires that they take every precaution in hiring both licensed professionals and support staff. The results can be devastating if they don't -- lost reputations, ruinous litigation and even curtains for a thriving law practice.

In short, given the bond between lawyer and client, law firms can no longer assume that anyone who has a license to practice law is a member of the club, as it were, and must be okay.

Fortune 500 companies began doing background checks as a matter of routine in the last decades of the 20th century. At present, according to the most reliable figures, more than half of such businesses submit all new hires to background checks -- and the higher up the corporate ladder, the more extensive the investigation.

Among licensed professionals, international accounting firms began commissioning background checks about 10 years ago as a matter of routine risk management. These firms view the background check as a first test of integrity, to be conducted on all candidates for hire. Their clients, meanwhile, want to know that their fees buy the services of vetted professionals.

Lawyers slow to adopt

Law firms are the laggards in this trend, sometimes with unhappy results. Consider the following examples of local hires gone awry:

* An attorney who claimed to have advance degrees that he did not in fact possess;

* An attorney who claimed falsely to be a member of the bar;

* An attorney with a history of suing his employers;

* A purchasing manager who drank too much and took kickbacks from suppliers.

What makes for a reliable background check? What does one cost? How can you be sure to get what you pay for in commissioning a background check?

The most basic check -- suitable for entry-level, non-professional hires -- should verify the individual's address and Social Security number, inspect motor vehicle records, and check court records for both misdemeanor and felony criminal proceedings.

For higher-level hires, the investigation should also verify educational achievements and employment history and check federal and state court records for both criminal proceedings and civil litigation. In addition, it should check state and local records for uniform business code filings, for securities law proceedings and for officer and director records.

Last but not least, any such investigation should check references and include interviews with previous employers over at least five years, and it should even dig up mentions in newspaper and magazine stories.

It is not enough, however, just to get the record, which can involve masses of data. A thorough investigation requires both hands-on work and judgment. It must determine, for example, whether the Robert Smith you want to hire is the same Robert Smith who turns up in a search of civil litigation records. The investigation must also determine what the litigation involved and what the result was in each case. Did Robert Smith sue his firm over some employment-related issue? Did his firm sue him for breach of contract? Did someone supervised by Robert Smith accuse him of sexual harassment? Did his bar association take action against him for any reason at all?

Understanding data, costs

Clearly, it takes expertise to analyze and interpret the data gathered in a good background investigation -- because the investigation should answer questions, not raise them. In addition, the firm you hire should have international reach, giving you the freedom to hire the talent you need wherever you find it.

As to the cost, a word of caution: Some Internet firms promise background investigations for as little as $35, but at best these firms may search only public records and make no effort even to match names, much less analyze data. Instead they inundate you with a mass of undigested information -- a "data dump," we call it.

Be wary; you get what you pay for from such "investigations."

The cost of a good search begins at $100 and can range to $1,000 or more for a thorough investigation -- money well spent, given the heightened awareness in the wake of Sept. 11.

Larry Scherzer is president of Scherzer & Co., Woodland Hills, a corporate and personal background investigation firm.