Personal Counsel — John H. Snyder PLLC
Utmost DiscretionNo Process LayerMinimum Footprint
Personal Counsel
For matters that cannot be routed through ordinary channels without the routing itself becoming the risk.

Discrete legal judgment and direct execution for situations where visibility creates additional harm.

Snyder handles sensitive personal and professional matters — confidentiality disputes, reputational exposure, cross-border situations, and issues requiring quiet resolution — with an operating discipline built around containment, clarity, and minimum footprint.

Structure
Ongoing
Limited engagements. Always direct.
Principle
No Unnecessary Trace
Discretion as operating discipline.
Matters That Cannot Be Routed

Certain matters cannot be handled through ordinary channels.

They involve personal exposure, reputational risk, and situations where visibility creates additional harm. They require judgment, discretion, and the ability to act without drawing attention.

The common feature is not the category of problem. It is the need for control without visibility.

The most effective representations end quietly and leave little trace.
The Method

Minimum footprint. Maximum control.

Direct relationship with the principal. No unnecessary personnel or process. Careful management of information flow. Specialists engaged only when necessary and only with the client's explicit knowledge.

01Intake
Private. No forms. No routing.
The initial conversation is direct and confidential. No intake team, no conflicts search that creates a record, no document request before trust is established.
The act of engaging counsel should not create the exposure it is designed to resolve.
02Handling
Minimum footprint. Maximum control.
Specialists engaged only when necessary. Information flows controlled. Nothing committed to writing that does not need to be.
Discretion is not a posture. It is an operating discipline applied at every step.
03Resolution
Quiet. Clean. No unnecessary trace.
The most effective representations end quietly. Where formal legal action becomes necessary, it is pursued deliberately, proportionately, and in alignment with the client's broader position.
Resolution is measured by what does not happen as much as by what does.
The Work

Matters that require discretion, speed, and a single trusted point of control.

Sensitive Disputes
Personal and professional
Disputes that cannot be litigated in the open without creating additional harm. Handled with emphasis on containment and quiet resolution.
Confidentiality & Privacy
Exposure that ordinary process cannot contain
Matters involving confidentiality risk, threatened disclosure, or situations where the existence of a dispute is itself sensitive.
Quiet Resolution
Before escalation becomes necessary
Most matters that appear headed toward litigation can be resolved quietly with the right combination of leverage, judgment, and timing.
Cross-Border Situations
New York as a trusted point of control
For clients based outside the United States, Snyder serves as a trusted local operator — coordinating legal, business, and personal matters.
Family Office Interface
Coordination across family and business
Matters involving the intersection of personal circumstances and family office interests.
Matters of Highest Sensitivity
No category. Only trust.
Some matters do not fit a category. They require a single person who can be trusted with everything and will leave no unnecessary trace.
Why Snyder

One person. Full picture. No handoffs.

John H. Snyder
Founding Principal · Personal Counsel · Trusted Operator
John H. Snyder
Harvard Law School
Brown University · Phi Beta Kappa
Federal Clerkship · Proskauer Rose
Founder, Agnes Intelligence

Snyder serves as personal counsel to senior executives, principals, and family offices in circumstances where privacy, judgment, and control are paramount. Engagements are ongoing, limited in number, and structured to ensure responsiveness, continuity, and trust.

25+ years of federal trial practice. Former Proskauer Rose litigator. Federal judicial clerk. Known for judgment under pressure, unusual clarity in complex situations, and the ability to act without drawing attention.

Corporate & Structural Counsel
Thomas C. Sima
Duke Law (J.D. & LL.M., cum laude) · Shearman & Sterling, NY & HK · NY · FL · SDNY · EDNY
20+ years advising international principals on offshore asset protection trusts, estate tax optimization, cross-border ownership structures, and sensitive matters requiring both legal precision and discretion. Fluent in Russian. Formerly with Shearman & Sterling in New York and Hong Kong.
Engagement

Initial conversations are private, direct, and without commitment.

The first question is simply whether the matter requires the kind of handling we provide. A brief description of the situation is sufficient. Do not send privileged or confidential information at this stage.

Engagements are structured to ensure responsiveness, continuity, and trust. The roster is limited — Snyder personally handles every matter.

Contact
$25,000 initial engagement. Full engagement: $100,000–$500,000, negotiated flat fee.
An Early Conversation
Costs Nothing.

Initial conversations are private and without commitment. A brief description of the situation is sufficient. Do not send privileged or confidential information.

Email inquiry@jhs.nyc
We Are a Fit When
Ordinary channels create exposure. The matter requires discretion, speed, and control — not process.
We Are Not a Fit When
The matter is routine, fully public, or does not require the level of discretion this engagement is built around.
The Engagement
$25,000 initial engagement. Full engagement: $100,000–$500,000, negotiated flat fee.