James Fenimore Cooper was the son of Paul Fenimore Cooper, a partner in the firm, and grandson of the famous author James Fenimore Cooper. He was a partner of the firm from 1882 to 1938. Cooper trained in the law with the noted Albany lawyer Marcus T. Hun, and was admitted to the bar in 1882. He then joined his father in the firm Jenkins & Cooper. After his father’s death in 1895, the firm became known successively as Tracey, Cooper & Rathbone; Tracey, Cooper and Townsend; Tracey, Cooper & Savage, and, in 1925, Cooper Erving & Savage by which it is known today.
During Cooper’s tenure the firm became known for its expertise in banking law, for which it remains to the present day. Cooper was a director of several banks. The major clients of the firm were First Trust Company (now Key bank) and Albany Savings Bank (now RBS Citizens Bank). Cooper was a director of First Trust Company, and his mentor Marcus T. Hun, and partner Frederick Townsend II, both served as president of Albany Savings Bank. This began a long line of Cooper Erving partners serving as bank directors and officers.
Cooper authored a book about his native Otsego County entitled Legends and Traditions of a Northern County and complied two volumes of correspondence of his namesake grandfather. James Fenimore Cooper died in 1938 having been a member of the firm for 56 years.
