Kevin Snider

Chief Counsel

Kevin Snider has been an attorney since 1994 and has served as Chief Counsel for the Pacific Justice Institute since 2004.  The PJI Legal Department that he heads has staff attorneys in 23 states. During his tenure with PJI he has litigated a number of cases which have garnered national attention.  These include two in the U.S. Supreme Court – A Woman’s Friend Pregnancy Res. Clinic v. Becerra, 585 U.S. 1027 (2018)(CVR) and Gateway City Church v. Newsom, 141 S. Ct. 1460 (2021).   He argued In re Jonathan L. before the California Court of Appeal, a case which restored the right to homeschool in California.  In Michael Newdow v. LeFevre, he argued in defense of the national motto in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.  Days before the January 2009 swearing in of President Obama, Snider represented Pastors Rick Warren and Joseph Lowery in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in which he successfully argued against the request for an injunction to prevent the invocation and benediction at the inauguration.

Snider gives legal counsel to religious leaders on a day in and day out basis on a variety of church issues. He has taught church law to seminary students and is a frequent presenter at seminars on church law, religious liberties and the Constitution.  In 2011 he served on the Commission On Accountability & Policy For Religious Organizations (Legal Experts Panel) for the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. In addition, Snider served on the Editorial Advisory Board for Christianity Today’s Church Law & Tax Group (2013-14).

He has written for the Daily Journal, been seen on CSPAN and CNN, has made dozens of radio and television appearances, and is interviewed frequently or quoted in newspaper and other publications.

Snider is admitted to the Washington, California, and District of Columbia Bars.  He has two children and resides with his wife, Chenyuan, in northern California. Chenyuan is a regular contributing writer for The Stream.