James Snell was mentioned in "Defense Lawyers Lose Fight Over Facebook, Instagram Posts," an article published by The Recorder regarding the decision of a California appeals court to deny subpoenas from criminal defendants seeking private user information.

James Snell argued on behalf of Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Instagram, who moved to quash defense subpoenas under the Stored Communications Act. The law prohibits service providers from divulging their users electronic communications outside of limited situations. A Facebook spokesman said the company is pleased with the decision. "People's online information deserves to be protected from unjustified searches," he wrote in an emailed statement, "and we will fight to defend the privacy protections granted under the law."