Edgar Snyder (born September 6, 1941) is a

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

-area personal injury lawyer. One of the first attorneys in the area to advertise extensively on television, he became recognizable from his marketing campaign, which began in the mid 1980s. In 2009, the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

'' called him "Pittsburgh's best-known personal injury attorney".

Early life and education

Snyder was born in Connellsville, Pennsylvania to Jewish

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n immigrants. He graduated from

Taylor Allderdice High School Taylor Allderdice High School is a public high school in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It opened in 1927 and is part of the Pittsburgh Public Schools district. It was named for industrialist and Squirr ...

in 1959. He attended

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

, where he was the captain of the school's debate team, and is a 1966 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Career

After graduation from law school, Snyder served as a

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Hungary and Singapore, ...

in Pittsburgh for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He then opened his first law office in nearby Duquesne, where he initially worked in

criminal defense In the field of criminal law, there are a variety of conditions that will tend to negate elements of a crime (particularly the ''intent'' element), known as defenses. The label may be apt in jurisdictions where the ''accused'' may be assigned some ...

and represented high-profile clients in highly publicized cases. In the 1980s, he expanded his practice to include personal injury cases, driving a van around

Western Pennsylvania Western Pennsylvania is a region in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, covering the western third of the state. Pittsburgh is the region's principal city, with a metropolitan area population of about 2.4 million people, and serves as its economic ...

to meet with clients. Snyder's wife, Sandy, worked as his firm's former marketing director and helped expand his firm's reach through advertising. Snyder credits her with being the driving force behind his image. The advertisements helped propel Snyder's profile to the "near-saturation point," with an estimated 98% name recognition.Mickens, Julie
"Edgar Snyder represents so much that he can no longer represent you in court"
'' Pittsburgh City Paper''. 2002. According to Snyder, Sandy's "mantra" has been "we're going to make you a brand." One of the signatures in his television commercials is pointing his finger at the camera and saying, "There's never a fee unless we get money for you." This slogan emphasized the firm's use of contingency fees, where the firm only collects fees in the event of a legal victory. Snyder was selected for inclusion in the list of Pennsylvania's "Super Lawyers" from 2004 through 2010. By 2006 Snyder had stopped personally taking on cases, letting his partners argue the courtroom cases instead. Although he continued to oversee and direct the operations of his practice outside of the courtroom, it was reported in 2009 that he was beginning the process of retirement, but that he would continue to run the company for a few years. Outside of his practice, Snyder hosted a weekly live call-in show "The Law and You" on regional cable news television channel

PCNC The Pittsburgh Cable News Channel (PCNC) is a regional United States cable news, cable news television channel serving the Western Pennsylvania area. It is owned by Cox Media Group, which also owns WPXI, another Pittsburgh-area station from which ...

. He reported spending "30 to 40 percent" of his time volunteering and traveling for various organizations, especially those focused on the Jewish communities in Pittsburgh, Israel, and the former Soviet Union. In 2014, he transitioned from partner of Edgar Snyder & Associates to founder, of counsel, and retired shareholder.

References

External links

Edgar Snyder & Associates
{{DEFAULTSORT:Snyder, Edgar 1941 births Living people People from Connellsville, Pennsylvania Pennsylvania lawyers Pennsylvania State University alumni University of Pittsburgh School of Law alumni Law firms based in Pittsburgh Taylor Allderdice High School alumni