With the Target data breach, the NSA and Edward Snowden, cybersecurity is now one of the most written about parts of law, and having a couple of a government employees writing for your blog can set it apart from the thousands others. But if you have  three former government security heads who actually write well, then you have Steptoe Cyberblog.

Steptoe partner Stewart Baker
Steptoe partner Stewart Baker

“When you come away from government, you get the sense that policymakers are not ten-feet tall, and they do about as well as anyone else can. That leaves you with the confidence to put forward your own views about security issues,” said Stewart Baker, former assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Homeland Security and now partner at Steptoe & Johnson.

Baker and Michael Vatis, founding director of the National Infrastructure Protection Center at the FBI and now also a Steptoe partner, started the Steptoe Cyberblog in 2012 to “find the lighter side of legal developments,” said Baker. The blog gives a more indepth look into the cybersecurity breaches and lawsuits that have been dominating national headlines as of late, but with a conversational style that Baker has cultivated since he started writing anonymously when he was still with Homeland Security.

“We understand the motivations and constraints that government is operating under, and we’re interested in those issues. We cover some of those with a little expertise,” said Baker, who also added that blogging for the firm is a lot more freeing than writing anonymously while in the government because the media isn’t watching for inconsistencies. “I like to think that it’s stuff you want to read. We try to avoid analyzing cases in a way that you learn to at law school. It’s more opinionated. There’s more of our personality in it, which makes it a little bit easier to read.”

Baker said that he aims to be conversational while taking a stance (like when he criticized the Nation Institute of Standards and Technology) even if that means receiving a few negative comments along the way.

“The downside of having views that that people disagree with your views and they aren’t shy about offering comments,” said Baker. “The best solution … is to not to get into areas that you know that are going to be conflicts. We don’t always do that well, and we occasionally find that we stepped into an area where there are clients who have an interest. We try not to bite the hand that feeds us.”

Steptoe Cyberblog’s latest venture has been producing weekly podcasts that allow the writers to talk about the issues while bringing in guests like Ellen Nakashima, national security reporter for The Washington Post, or Chris Inglis, former deputy director of NSA,

“I think we all view it as a great way to bring the issues to life. We try to write about these issues that are uniquely engaging, but even the most engaging writing is not as good as engaging conversation,” said Jason Weinstein, former deputy assistant attorney general of the US Department of Justice’s Criminal Division and also a partner at Steptoe. Weinstein and Markham Erickson, another Steptoe partner, joined the blog after it was established.

Weinstein and Baker noted that once they developed a weekly schedule and consistent format for the podcasts, it created a rhythm of how to produce them and became a regular feature. The podcasts, which they have only been doing since January, has been a boost for the blog’s overall audience.

According to Laurie Paul, senior business development manager for Steptoe, the blog has always had a consistent audience, but the number of podcast listeners grew much faster.

“It sort of has taken on a life of it own,” said Paul. “The podcast has broadened the audience quite a bit so I think we’d start to see more of the recognition. It took some time for it to get it and become a trusted resource.”

While the podcast has contributed to Steptoe’s increased recognition, Paul also credits the consistency in writing and publishing, and how this is a long-term part of the firm.

“We are starting now to see some heightened awareness … In the past few months, one of Jason’s Target breach posts was quoted in Corporate Counsel Magazine. We are starting now to see a couple of results like that the reporter found us through the blog,” said Paul. “It’s a business development tool, but ten clients aren’t just going to call and hire you [after reading a post]. The blog is a way to get yourself into the conversation and keep that conversation going. It’s using it as a conversation starter with a target and using it to reach out to people who you want to know or talk to.”

One resounding piece of advice given by Steptoe that they use in the blogging practices is to add their own twist to the conversation.

“My advice is don’t be boring. You can write about these issues that are written about in great frequency, but try to write about them in a unique way or with an interesting take that no one else has thought of,” said Weinstein.