Chad A. Snyder

For Me, It’s All About the Story

I’ve always been drawn to people’s stories. So when my 8th-grade English teacher asked us to write a paper about what we wanted to be when we grew up, I said newspaper reporter. And so began my journalism career. From humble beginnings at my junior high newspaper (really just a few photocopied pages of typing paper, but you have to start somewhere), through high school and college papers, and a few years reporting and editing as a professional journalist, I learned to ask people questions. More importantly, I learned to hear their answers and to tell their stories.

That didn’t change when I got my law degree. Over the course of more than 2 decades practicing law, I have always remembered that my clients entrust me with stories about some of the most important events in their lives.

Mostly I’m sharing those stories in lawsuits. Telling judges, opposing lawyers, mediators and jurors about the business my client built, the importance to them of honoring contracts, respecting property, or protecting copyrights, trademarks or trade secrets. But sometimes I help my clients build those businesses, negotiate fair contracts, or find solutions to disputes without having to go to court.

I’ve also made protecting the rights of children a priority. That is why I am not only a business lawyer, but also a family law attorney with a practice centered on custody, parenting time and helping grown-ups take care of the kids in their lives. I’ve designed this practice to help parents maintain strong, loving and empowering relationships with their children through the divorce or separation process. My task in these cases is to help make sense of the laws and rules that govern family law decisions, while constantly keeping you and the judge focused on what is best for your son or daughter.

For almost 20 years, I have also volunteered my time to be a lawyer for kids, representing children in child protection cases as a volunteer with Children’s Law Center of Minnesota. In 2014, this work earned Rubric Legal the Children’s Law Center’s Distinguished Service Award. It was one of the finest moments of my career.

After early years of moving around the East Coast while my dad served in the Navy, my family settled in central Wisconsin, where my parents still live. Today I live with my wife, Amy, in Minneapolis, where I spend my free time running the occasional marathon, reading comic books (now that I’m a grown up I’m supposed to call them “graphic novels”), and playing guitar in two bands you’ll never hear on the radio.

I also dabble in community theater (telling even more stories), sometimes acting, sometimes directing and often building sets in my garage workshop. Amy shares my love of music and theater, and we frequently get to share a stage. We are also “parents” to Stanlee, our clever, cute and training-resistant dog, and two cats, Pepper and Sprout (who do not think Stanlee is either clever or cute).

And I wear bow ties. Because 1) “bow ties are cool” (bonus points if you can tell me where that quote came from) and 2) I don’t have to worry about a bow tie getting caught in a car door.