Strategic Brilliance
Beats
Tactical
Bluster
Litigation is not a sequence of filings. Nor a shouting match.
It is an institution governed by incentives, constraints, time, and human behavior.
Outcomes emerge not from a single act but from ritualized interactions among participants with distinct interests and imperatives.
Others fight tactically inside deteriorating systems they do not understand, mistaking effort for progress.
We do not.
Start at the End
Every matter starts at the end.
To achieve the outcome our client envisions, we ask a simple question:
What must each stakeholder accept?
Client. Adversary. Bondholder. Board. Insurer. Regulator. Court.
We envision the best plausible outcome for our client, then work backward—identifying leverage points, decision constraints, and moments that drive parties irreversibly toward that conclusion.
Our focus is not the next motion. We mold the sequence of events so that a favorable result follows inexorably.
Law is a Human Institution
Law embodies neither morality nor justice. It is a human institution.
We never assume institutions function as designed or as we learn in school. In an age of diminished trust, we evaluate each system by its internal logic and stress points.
Experience teaches that even sophisticated clients understand only faintly what is happening behind the scenes to shape outcomes.
Effective strategy begins with focusing on “is” rather than “should.”
Judges operate under docket pressure and appellate risk. Boards operate under fiduciary exposure and fear. Adversaries operate under capital constraints, fatigue, and internal politics.
We function at that level.
Time Is a Weapon
Litigation unfolds over time. Time is not neutral.
Some moments demand speed — before evidence degrades or narratives harden. Others demand patience, allowing pressure to compound quietly until resistance becomes irrational.
When we come on board, ambiguity ends. Adversaries are forced to make binary decisions and commit to them.
Delay stops being an advantage.
Minimum Necessary Force
Measured aggression wins litigation. Gratuitous force is self-defeating. Experience teaches the difference.
We observe the doctrine of minimum necessary force. We calibrate our aggression to levels required to produce clarity, compliance, or resolution.
We seek not to humiliate our adversaries but to vindicate our clients. We remember the dispute is between the parties, not the lawyers. We do not corner for sport. Defeated adversaries are allowed, where possible, to retreat with dignity.
That discipline preserves outcomes and prevents escalation. Stability, not spectacle, is the objective.
Power used impulsively inspires retribution.
Power delivered with restraint turns adversaries into allies.
Integrity Is Strategy
Integrity is not a moral posture. It delivers strategic advantage.
Falsehood multiplies complexity. Each distortion creates another version of reality that must be remembered, defended, and reconciled. Lies require constant maintenance. The truth simply exists.
Precision, consistency, and discipline define boundaries. Credibility concentrates pressure. Relentless reasonableness is undeniable. Institutions naturally yield to calm, credible authority.
Integrity is not softness. It is how short-term conflict produces long-term peace.
Engagements
We accept a limited number of matters where we assess that our judgment, experience, and personal impact will change the outcome.
We structure engagements on a project, success, or hybrid basis. We avoid the billable hour where possible. Our value is delivered in leverage created, options preserved, and damage avoided — not hours billed.
We do not run the clock. We bring situations to a head by forcing parties to deal with uncomfortable facts.
When a situation has become dangerous and requires adult stewardship, advocacy alone is not enough.
That is when clients call Snyder.
John H. Snyder PLLC is independent by design. Our incentive is to resolve problems quickly, not to engage in needless escalation.
Snyder personally stewards every matter, with confidence forged in two decades of New York courtroom experience.
That confidence enables restraint.
Restraint enables control.
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