Perry Snyderman built up law firms and fostered community organizations with a combination of business and legal expertise and a generosity of spirit that extended beyond those around him.
“He had tremendous emotional intelligence and huge business acumen,” said Lee Miller, retired global chair of law firm DLA Piper, who first met Snyderman in 1981. That was when Miller came to work at what was then Rudnick and Wolfe in Chicago, where Snyderman was managing partner. As part of a series of mergers, Rudnick and Wolfe was eventually absorbed into what is now DLA Piper.
“He was a larger-than-life personality,” Miller continued. “He cared about people, he was very generous, he built consensus in whatever he did, but he was a strong leader.”
Snyderman, 86, died of natural causes May 25 at his home in Wilmette, according to his daughter, Robin Snyderman Pratt. Before moving to Wilmette, he lived for decades in Highland Park with his wife, Elaine, who died in 2004.
Snyderman contributed time and talent to many organizations, including the Jewish United Fund, the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation and Christel House International, a global organization working to lift children out of poverty.
“Perry served on the board of directors of Christel House International for six years and became a wonderful ambassador for the organization, involving his family and close friends,” Christel House founder and board chair Christel DeHaan said in an email. “He made a difference.”
Snyderman was a board member of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Chicago from 1995 to 1997, according to Steven Nasatir, president of the Jewish United Fund. He was also president of the Jewish Community Center from 1989 to 1991. His contributions, Nasatir said, were “lots of time, very generous and really had (helpful) knowledge.”
Snyderman had an unusual back story, one he didn’t learn about until his wedding night in 1955. That was when the man he knew as his father, Max Snyderman, told him he had been adopted when he was 2 years old and that his birth name was Paul Olefsky. He learned that his actual father had been killed by a drunken driver while his mother was pregnant with him. She later remarried and had two more children. The three grew up as brothers on the South Side of Chicago.
After graduating from Hyde Park High School, he went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Bradley University in Peoria, then got his law degree from DePaul University. His time at DePaul was interrupted when he was drafted for stateside service in the Army.
He landed his first real law job at Rudnick and Wolfe. The firm grew to become Rudnick Wolfe Snyderman and Foreman, but when Rudnick and Wolfe died, Snyderman and Foreman decided to change the name back to Rudnick and Wolfe. Snyderman helped lead the firm’s growth from a small Chicago-based firm to one of the leading corporate and real estate firms in the United States.
“He really helped create the firm,” said Allen Ginsburg, who joined the Rudnick firm in 1971 and is now with DLA Piper. “He was the driving force.
“He really drove home the importance of understanding the business side as well as the legal side. That allowed him to build strong relationships with his clients.”
That was the case with Richard Stein, who first met Snyderman when he was on the other side of a small real estate deal. “Perry has been my friend, my lawyer, my counselor since 1961,” Stein said. “The best of mankind. Charitable, honorable, giving of his time.”
That was also the experience of Michael Belsky, former mayor of Snyderman’s longtime hometown of Highland Park. Belsky, who was a councilman from 1995 to 2003 and mayor from 2003 to 2011, said Snyderman gave valuable advice on affordable housing and several redevelopment projects. He always seemed able to find time for his community and its people. “He’d always take the time to meet with young people and mentor them, and I would say myself included.”
Away from the office, Snyderman owned horses and for decades regularly rode with a group on area trails, his daughter said. “A lot of business got done with cigars and on horseback.”
Miller said he also benefited from Snyderman’s example and advice. “Perry was one of two key mentors in my life. He was a really special man who really gave back to the community.”
In addition to Pratt, Snyderman is survived by another daughter, Michelle Snyderman Platt; a son, Sol; a brother, Dennis; eight grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Services were held.