Choosing their advocate: Why Snyder got the job

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Steve Tizard and more than 30 of his neighbors along Robcaste Road in Jacksonville quietly began to search for legal representation in the late winter and early spring of 2006. A massive gasoline leak had been discovered that February at the Exxon station in town. The residents had been unable to obtain an alternate water supply as the cleanup began for the 25,000-gallon-plus spill, and they were concerned about their current and future health and property value.

Another group of Jacksonville residents, now known as the Allison plaintiffs, had announced their lawsuit through the Law Offices of Peter G. Angelos P.C. in the early spring. Tizard and two neighbors interviewed 20 firms, including the Angelos group, but found most lacked the “energy” toward the case residents wanted, he said.

The trio saved Stephen L. Snyder for last, because “he’s a little different,” Tizard said, noting Snyder’s flashy Web site and reputation as unpredictable in the courtroom.

Whereas the other firms and lawyers sat across the table in dark suits and calmly made a pitch, Snyder was aggressive and intimidating, said Tizard. Snyder peppered the three residents with questions and brought his whole firm to the meeting, even though he was not sure he wanted the case, Tizard said.

“I knew exactly what he was doing,” he said. “He was setting the stage, a show of force. I was getting sold every second. He was just so arrogant and nasty.”

It was exactly what Tizard thought the residents needed to fight Exxon. He remembered what other lawyers in the search, all of whom had taken Exxon to court before, told their prospective clients.

“They laid it out and said, ‘You’re going to be doing this for a long time,’” Tizard said. “‘If this was any other oil company, they would do the right thing. But with Exxon, they fight to the bitter end.’”

Snyder and his firm, Snyder Weltchek & Snyder in Pikesville, declined to comment for this story.

When Snyder’s firm asked to add households to its lawsuit, the plaintiffs already involved agreed as long as the new plaintiffs were truly affected by the leak.

“We don’t want to be people from 12 miles away,” said Tizard. “We want to be the damaged people, to have credibility.”

Stacey Curtiss and her family were among the last to join. They originally wanted no part of the lawsuit, but changed their minds after finding Exxon unresponsive to their concerns.

“I kept telling my husband, I just believe in human nature,” she said. “You have to do the right thing. Hopefully they’re going to look at our family, they’re going to look at our situation and they’re going to do the right thing. And they just don’t do it.”

Even after Snyder announced his lawsuit in May 2006, Tizard still hoped the litigation could be prevented.

“We were holding out Exxon would do right,” he said.

James F. Sanders, of Neal & Harwell PLC in Nashville, Exxon’s lead attorney for the case, said the company attempted to settle before trial but declined to elaborate on specifics.

“We wanted to settle these cases and we made quite a bit of effort in that direction,” he said.

Residents praised the work of Snyder and his firm on their case.

“I’m trying to picture every one of these firms [we interviewed] in place of them. We would never have gotten to this point,” Tizard said.