Stephen L. Snyder, the once-celebrated injury attorney, evoked a slogan during his trial for attempted extortion last year that many in the region have heard on the radio or seen on social media, television ads and a billboard on I-83: “Don’t Just Sue Them, Snyder Them!”
Speaking to jurors in November, shortly before they convicted him, he said: “The government has really turned around and Snyder’d me. And they Snyder’d me in a dishonest way.”
Community members, too, twisted the locally famous phrase to refer to Snyder, who lost his law license and is now serving three years probation. One user on Facebook wrote that the lawyer had been “reverse Snydered” and another asked, “Snyder them or him?”
It turns out that the famous phrase doesn’t belong to Snyder, though — at least not that one. It’s owned by a firm that belongs to his two sons, the Snyder Law Group. Their trademark, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, was approved and activated in April 2020.
Though their father was never listed as having more than a loose affiliation to the Snyder Law Group, Scott and Michael Snyder’s firm or — at least its branding — has been associated with his legal troubles by proxy.
Even so, marketing experts familiar with the “Snyder Them” slogan say the motto is still a strong and effective tool, one that sticks with viewers and projects the firm as a stubborn advocate for its clients.
“It’s something that they’re going to have to protect. It’s an important piece of their intellectual property,” said Henry Boyd, a marketing professor at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.
A memorable slogan like “Snyder Them,” Boyd said, “is worth its weight in gold.”
“Think of all the years it’s taken to craft and have it sink into the public psyche that, ‘Don’t just sue them, Snyder them.’ That’s very powerful,” he said.
Scott and Michael Snyder, the sons who run the Snyder Law Group, declined to comment.
Stephen Snyder, who represented himself at trial, did not respond to a voicemail left on a phone number listed in public records. The criminal defense lawyer he later retained, C. Justin Brown, did not return requests for comment.
There are several examples of companies or organizations that have reworked their brand when their namesake or spokesperson became wrapped in scandal.
In 2015, for instance, Subway suspended its relationship with Jared Fogle, whose weight-loss journey defined its “Eat Fresh” messaging for years, after a child porn investigation emerged against him. Then, three years later, when Papa John’s founder John Schnatter used a racial slur in a conference call, the pizza company removed him from its logo, packaging and advertisements.
Both restaurant chains would go on to use Hall of Fame basketball player Shaquille O’Neal as a brand ambassador.
Businesses may try to reposition their image to capture a new space in a market — such as Stanley Black & Decker acquiring DeWalt to target more serious craftsmen — but a full departure from a monikered brand is rare and expensive, said David Godes, a marketing and economics professor from the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School.
The most high-profile examples, Godes said, come from real estate, when property moguls place their name at the forefront of their projects. Of those, the most prolific case appears to involve President Donald Trump, whose often golden-typed surname has been removed or hidden from several developments since his first election in 2016: ice rinks, residential buildings, and hotels in New York, Toronto and Panama City.
According to a 2024 report from The New York Times, while other Manhattan condos have steadily increased in price over the last decade, those in Trump buildings dropped 23% between 2013 and 2023. Meanwhile, properties that removed the president’s name slightly outpaced the rest of the Manhattan market in the same time, the report states.
Most brands that face controversy from a namesake, however, “stick with the brand,” the Hopkins professor said.
“I think it’s because of [the] extent of the investments that have been built up on creating awareness and then, at the same time, the value of those associations,” Godes said.
Considering pieces of the attempted extortion case, Godes said “in some bizarre sense,” the details don’t “necessarily contradict” the “Snyder them” message.
Last year, Stephen Snyder was convicted of trying to strongarm the University of Maryland Medical Center out of $25 million with the threat of a nasty media campaign accusing the hospital of transplanting diseased organs into patients.
“It’d be one thing if they had a brand image built around community service and care and respect and whatever, all these positive attributes. But my guess is that’s not the case,” Godes said. “It’s more about fighting for your rights and getting you the justice that you deserve.”
The Snyder Law Firm website prescribes several meanings to “Snyder Them,” including justice. The phrase also signifies experience, quality, skill, results and perseverance, the site states.
Godes said in an interview that he could envision a scenario where people “sort of spin” the criminal case. They may think that the father’s actions were “not what I would have done, but I’m glad he’s fighting for me and not for the other side,” he said.
“My gut feel would be that from the consumer perspective, their consumer marketing, you know, client acquisition, they will be hard pressed to walk away from that,” he said.
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