Jonathan Tepe

Jonathan Tepe is a Partner in the Nashville office of Sanford Heisler Sharp, LLP. Mr. Tepe’s practice has focused on civil rights, employment discrimination, public interest litigation, and complex civil litigation. 

At Sanford Heisler Sharp, Mr. Tepe has helped represent clients that include dozens of counties and cities across the nation in their claims against the opioid industry; a class of over 700 autoworkers alleging age discrimination against a large auto manufacturer; an asylum seeker in his appeal before the Tenth Circuit; a co-founder of a global semi-conductor company who was terminated and defrauded out of his share in the company; healthcare executives who were terminated after reporting violations of laws and regulations; and workers who experienced discrimination based on their race, gender, age, and/or sexual orientation. 

Mr. Tepe has been licensed to practice law in Ohio since 2015 and in Tennessee since 2019, and he has been admitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Tennessee, and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. 

Mr. Tepe received his law degree from Columbia Law School. During law school, Mr. Tepe interned with the Legal Resources Centre in Makhanda, South Africa, contributing to litigation that secured a judgment requiring the government to remedy severe furniture shortages in Eastern Cape schools by providing them with sufficient desks and chairs. He also helped to defend low-income families as an extern with The Bronx Defenders and worked to expand voting rights as an extern with The Center for Popular Democracy.

Mr. Tepe received his undergraduate degree from The Ohio State University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts cum laude in Political Science and History, with Honors in Arts and Sciences. While at Ohio State, Mr. Tepe worked as an intern for both the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, Employment Law Section, and U.S. Congressman Steve Driehaus. 

Before joining Sanford Heisler Sharp, Mr. Tepe completed a clerkship for the Honorable Sarah A. L. Merriam, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut. Prior to his clerkship, Mr. Tepe was an Associate at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he focused on complex commercial litigation and represented low-income individuals in various pro bono matters.