Jason W. Burge

Practice Focus

Appellate Group, Class Actions/Mass Actions/MDLs, Fraudulent Transfer and Specialized Bankruptcy Litigation, Governmental Securities Litigation, Lender Liability, Ponzi/Banking Schemes, Real Estate Litigation, Securities and Antitrust, Tax

Jason Burge, a partner in our Litigation Section, is the go-to attorney for victims of financial misconduct in single plaintiff, mass action, and class action cases against banks, loan servicers, stockbrokers, and investment firms.

With a background in economics, Jason can distill complex financial transactions into terms that judges, arbitrators, and jurors can understand. Chambers and Partners has described him as “financially well-versed and very capable in translating difficult financial concepts into common tongue.”

He represents individual and institutional investors and borrowers in securities fraud and lender liability cases in state court, federal court, and bankruptcy court, as well as FINRA arbitrations. He handles disputes involving allegations of statutory violations, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentation, and fraud from fact investigation through trial and appellate practice.

Jason also represents both plaintiffs and defendants in class action litigation. Currently, he serves as interim lead counsel for a putative class of former beneficiaries of an ERISA pension plan of a liquidated insurance company in Puerto Rico. He is also lead counsel defending a Louisiana automotive insurer against multiple putative class actions alleging improper adjustment of total loss claims.

Most recently, Jason led the Fishman Haygood team that reached a nationwide settlement with Navient Solutions, LLC and Navient Credit Finance Corporation (“Navient”) which resulted in approximately $236 million in debt relief for private student loan borrowers, as well as $44 million in cash compensation. As stated in the class action lawsuit, Navient and its agents refused to recognize the discharges of these private student loans that were (a) to attend non-Title IV schools and programs or (b) made in excess of the cost of attendance, and continued to collect on the loans even after borrowers obtained bankruptcy discharges.

Finally, as a former clerk on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Jason has argued before the United States Fifth Circuit and the Louisiana Third and Fourth Circuit. Jason regularly briefs and argues state and federal appeals across a broad range of practice areas.

Jason is recognized by Chambers and Partners USA for Litigation: General Commercial in 2024. He is also recognized among Lawdragon’s 500 leading Litigators in America (2024), and he is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® for Commercial Litigation, Litigation—Securities, and Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions—Plaintiffs (since 2019). He also is recognized as a Benchmark Litigation “Litigation Star.” In 2023, Jason received the Outstanding Service Award from the Public Investors Advocate Bar Association (PIABA).

Jason was the editor in chief of PIABA’s bar journal. He has published on securities and arbitration topics in the Tulane Law Review, Louisiana Law Review, and Gonzaga Law Review.

Education

J.D., magna cum laude, from New York University School of Law, 2006
- Note Editor of the Annual Survey of American Law
- Order of the Coif
B.M. in Music Composition, summa cum laude, from Loyola University New Orleans, 2003
B.A. in Political Science, magna cum laude, from The Ohio State University, 2000

Clerkship

Clerk to the Honorable Jerry E. Smith of the United States Court of Appeals of the Fifth Circuit, 2006-2007

Publications / Presentations

Publications

Jason W. Burge, Investors Cornered: The Risks of Securities-Backed Loans, 30 No. 2 PIABA B. J. 225 (2023)
Jason W. Burge and Bradley R. Stark, Investors Cornered: “You Don’t Find Out Who’s Been Swimming Naked Until the Tide Goes Out,” 30 No. 1 PIABA B. J. 89 (2023)
Jason W. Burge and Lara K. Richards, Crafting an Argument that Statues of Limitations Do Not Apply in Arbitration, 20 No. 1 PIABA B. J. 31 (2015)
Jason W. Burge and Lara K. Richards, A Compelling Case for Streamlining Venue of Actions to Enjoin Arbitration, 88 Tul. L. Rev. 773, 775 (2014)
Lara K. Richards and Jason W. Burge, Analyzing the Application of Statutes of Limitations in Arbitration, 49 Gonz. L. Rev. 214 (2014).
Jason W. Burge and Lara K. Richards, Defining “Customer”: A Survey of Who Can Demand Finra Arbitration, 74 La. L. Rev. 173 (2013)
“Rethinking Fees and Taxes In Light of the New York City Health Care Security Act,” NYU Ann. Surv. Am. Law., Vol. 61:4

Presentations

“Appellate Law: A 2024 Year-in-Review of the State of the U.S. Fifth Circuit,” New Orleans Bar Association Procrastinators’ Programs^smCLE, December 27, 2024
“Louisiana Supervisory Writ Practice: Practice Tips and Pitfalls,” New Orleans Bar Association Procrastinators’ Programs^smCLE, December 19, 2024
“Using State Statutes to Amplify our Client’s Damages Claim and Target Additional Defendants,” PIABA Annual Meeting, September 26, 2024
“Testing 1-2-3: Using Focus Groups, Mock Trials, and Shadow Juries in Litigation,” Society of Louisiana Certified Public Accountants 2024 Forensic, Litigation & Valuation Services Conference, August 19, 2024
Panelist, “Avoiding Hallucinations and Fabrications: Lessons from Mata v. Avianca,” Loyola Law Review Symposium, March 15, 2024
Panelist, “The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence for Lawyers,” PIABA 32nd Annual Meeting and Securities Law, October 25, 2023

Representative Matters

Represents Puerto Rican individual physician associations in suits against insulin manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers for damages suffered as a result of the defendants alleged price-fixing scheme.
Represents shareholders of various REITs in derivative and direct litigation for damages arising from fiduciary breaches, waste, and mismanagement.
Represented public utilities, hospitals, in cities in FINRA arbitrations against their investment banks for fraud and breaches of fiduciary duty in connection with the issuance of auction rate securities and related interest rate swaps.
Tried a week-long FINRA arbitration on behalf of investors in action to recover against their investment advisors for fraud and mismanagement of investments, resulting in an award of 100% of out-of-pocket damages plus attorney’s fees.
Represented the City of New Orleans against their underwriter and remarketing agent for claims arising from the issuance of variable rate demand obligations and accompanying interest rate swaps, resulting in a settlement following a federal trial.
Represented real estate developer in federal court action to recover against its loan broker and putative lender for negligence and breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the failure to close a HUD loan.
Represents a putative nationwide class of student loan debtors against their lenders for unlawful collections following bankruptcy discharge in cases pending in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas and the Northern District of New York.
Represents an automobile insurer against putative state-wide class actions alleging improper adjustment of total loss claims in cases pending in state and federal court.
Prosecuted an appeal for pension funds and retail investors in an action alleging breach of fiduciary duty and fraud by their investment advisor, and obtained a reversal of an adverse ruling by the trial court before the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.