Jonathan Tepe

Jonathan Tepe is a Partner at Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, a Co-Chair of the firm’s Public Interest Litigation Practice Group, and the Chair of the firm’s Fellows and Junior Associates Program.

Since joining Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, Jonathan has been recognized in the legal community as a Mid-South Rising Star by Super Lawyers and on Benchmark Litigation’s 40 and Under List – South.

At Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, Jonathan’s practice has focused on public interest litigation, employment discrimination, and complex civil litigation. Jonathan’s representations have included:

• A proposed class action on behalf of mistreated and abused disabled youth in the Tennessee juvenile justice system in Disability Rights Tennessee, et al. v. The State of Tennessee, et al.
• Dozens of counties and cities across the nation in their claims against opioid manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies, and pharmacy benefit managers
• Helping to secure a settlement on behalf of more than 700 autoworkers in a class age discrimination claim against Volkswagen in Manlove v. Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft et al.
• Helping to secure an $8.3 million arbitration verdict on behalf of the co-founder of a global semi-conductor company following his termination in Chen v. InnoGrit Corporation, et al.
• Health care executives who were terminated after reporting violations of laws and regulations in Kyrimis, et al. v. Palomar Health et al.
• An asylum seeker in his appeal before the Tenth Circuit
• Successfully resolving many cases involving employment discrimination and retaliation

Jonathan received his law degree from Columbia Law School and his Bachelor of Arts cum laude in political science and history, with honors in arts and sciences, from The Ohio State University. While at Columbia Law, Jonathan was a member of the Human Rights Law Review, Public Relations Chairman of Rightslink (a student-run human rights law organization), and a participant in the Human Rights Internship Program. As an intern with the Legal Resources Centre in Makhanda, South Africa, Jonathan contributed to litigation that ultimately secured a judgment finding that severe furniture shortages in Eastern Cape schools violated the constitutional right to a basic education and ordering the government to provide sufficient desks and chairs to all Eastern Cape schools. He also helped to defend low-income families as an extern with The Bronx Defenders and to expand voting rights as an extern with The Center for Popular Democracy. While at Ohio State, Jonathan worked as an intern for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, Employment Law Section, and for U.S. Congressman Steve Driehaus.

Jonathan is a member of the Tennessee and Ohio bars. He is also member of the Tennessee Bar Association.

Before joining Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight, Jonathan 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, Jonathan was an Associate at Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he gained substantial experience in complex commercial litigation, as well as various pro bono matters representing low-income individuals.

When Jonathan is not lawyering, he enjoys traveling, running, and cheering on the Ohio State Buckeyes, Cincinnati Reds, and Cincinnati Bengals.