Eric Alan Tepper

Eric A. Tepper is a partner in Gordon, Tepper & DeCoursey, LLP, and was born in Schenectady, New York. Mr. Tepper graduated from Hamilton College with a B.A. degree, magna cum laude, in 1979, and from George Washington University Law School with a Juris Doctor degree, with honors, in 1982. He has been selected for inclusion in "The Best Lawyers in America" for the 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 editions.   Best Lawyers has selected Mr. Tepper as the 2017 Family Law--Lawyer of the Year for the Albany Area.  Best Lawyers previously named him Family Law-- Lawyer of the Year for the Albany Area in 2013.  Mr. Tepper has been selected for inclusion in New York Super Lawyers for 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017. New York Super Lawyers also previously selected him as one of the top 25 lawyers from all categories and one of the top rated matrimonial lawyers in the Hudson Valley region, as published by Hudson Valley Magazine.  In 2011, Mr. Tepper was listed as one of the top ten divorce lawyers in New York State by AVVO, as published in Arrive Magazine.  Of the top ten divorce lawyers in New York State, he was the only one selected from north of Westchester County.  A leading divorce, family law, and matrimonial lawyer in the Albany, Schenectady, and Saratoga region and Upstate New York, Mr. Tepper is admitted to the New York and Massachusetts Bars, and to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York and the District of Massachusetts. In 1999, Mr. Tepper was appointed by New York’s Chief Administrative Judge to serve on the Statewide Committee on Matrimonial Practice and he served on the Statewide Committee from 1999 through 2009.  In 2009, Mr. Tepper was appointed by New York’s Chief Administrative Judge to the Unified Court System Matrimonial Practice Advisory Committee and served on that committee until April 2014 . He was one of two representatives to the Committee on Matrimonial Practice from the Third Department and one of two representatives from the Third Department to the Statewide Matrimonial Practice Advisory Committee.  In June 2014, Mr. Tepper was appointed by New York's then Chief Administrative Judge, Hon. A.Gail Prudenti, to serve on the newly formed Matrimonial Practice Advisory and Rules Committee chaired by the Hon. Jeffrey S. Sunshine and he continues to serve on that committee.  Mr. Tepper is the only person from the 4th Judicial District who was appointed to the Statewide Matrimonial Practice Advisory and Rules Committee.  Mr. Tepper serves on both the legislation and rules subcommittees for the Matrimonial Practice Advisory and Rules Committee.  He has worked extensively on the issue of maintenance guidelines and was part of Judge Sunshine's working group which negotiated New York's newly enacted maintenance guidelines legislation. 

Mr. Tepper is the Chair of the New York State Bar Association Family Law Section which is comprised of approximately 2,600 divorce and family law attorneys from throughout New York State. In 2012, he was elected financial officer of the Family Law Section and in 2014, was elevated to the position of Secretary.  In 2016, Mr. Tepper became Vice-Chair of the Family Law Section and was elected to the position of Chair effective February 2018.    Before becoming an officer, Mr. Tepper was an active member on the New York State Bar Association's Family Law Section Executive Committee for many years.  He previously served as Co-Chair of the Family Law Section's Committee on Substantive Law Relating to the Family, as well as on the Family Law Section's ethics hotline.   In 2004, Mr. Tepper was appointed to the Continuing Legal Education Committee for the overall New York State Bar Association and served on the committee until 2010.  Mr. Tepper is also a member of the Saratoga County Bar Association, Capital District Women's Bar Association and Schenectady County Bar Association.  He Chairs the Schenectady County Bar Association Matrimonial and Family Law Committee.   

 Mr. Tepper has lectured extensively, and written course material on family law, divorce, and matrimonial issues for judicial education and New York State Bar Association continuing legal education programs for many years throughout the Albany, Schenectady and Saratoga regions, and throughout  New York State. Mr. Tepper has lectured on matrimonial law to Supreme Court and Family Court judges on numerous occasions at Judicial Education Seminars ("judge school"). Mr. Tepper has also lectured on matrimonial and family law to court attorneys for the New York State Unified Court System.   Mr. Tepper has lectured to the Association of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the State of New York on recently enacted matrimonial and family law legislation.  In 2017, he lectured to the Association of the Justices of the Supreme Court of the State of New York on New York's spousal maintenance guidelines.    He has also lectured on newly enacted divorce and family law legislation at a legislative continuing legal education program for the New York State Senate, New York State Assembly, and staff counsel. Mr. Tepper has also lectured on matrimonial law to the Appellate Division, Third Department.  In both 2016 and 2014, Mr. Tepper lectured on spousal maintenance issues and trends to the New York State Council on Divorce Mediation.  He  has also lectured on matrimonial, divorce, custody, and family law for the  Business Law Institute, Nassau County Bar Association, Capital District Women’s Bar Association, Schenectady County Legal Professionals, Schenectady County Bar Association, the Legal Project, the Suffolk Academy of Law and for other community and professional organizations. 

In 2017, Mr. Tepper co-wrote an article on New York's Spousal Maintenance Guidelines which was published in the American Bar Association's Family Law Quarterly.

Mr. Tepper previously served on the Board of Directors of the Schenectady Jewish Community Center and the Center for Community Justice. He previously was on the Board of Directors of the Northeast Parent and Child Society for nine years. Mr. Tepper served on the Board of Directors of the New York Chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts ("AFCC") until 2014 and was a founding member of the AFCC New York Chapter.  In 2012, he joined the Board of Directors of The Giving Circle, Inc., a not-for-profit organization based in Saratoga Springs which performs charitable work in Saratoga Springs, surrounding communities and in Africa.  In 2003, Mr. Tepper was appointed to the Editorial Board for the Lexis/Nexis publication on New York Matrimonial Actions, and served on the editorial board for many years.