Membership Spotlight: Jason Burge

Membership Spotlight : Jason Burge

Jason Burge is an attorney at Fishman Haygood. 

How has being a member of the FBA enhanced your career or benefited you personally or professionally?  

I did not grow up in New Orleans or go to law school here, so the connections I've made through the FBA have helped me integrate into this legal community. I have really taken advantage of the CLE programs hosted by the FBA throughout my career (starting with the Malcolm Monroe seminar when I had just passed the bar and extending to appellate CLEs I now need for my appellate specialty), and I've always enjoyed the events that the FBA hosts to bring together members of the New Orleans legal community. 

What is your biggest strength as an attorney and why?  

 I'm an analytical thinker, and so I think I'm good at distilling complex material down to a series of easily digestible propositions. My educational background was in economics, which has helped me to be good at breaking down and simplifying complex financial transactions, and music, which has helped give me a sense for the proper rhythm and structure of a good argument. I'm also pretty confident and quick on my feet, so I think I do well at oral argument. 

What is your favorite part about being an attorney and why? 

The best feeling in the world for an attorney is knowing you helped someone. Especially in plaintiff-side litigation, we’re usually working for someone on a one-off basis. So, there’s nothing better than hearing from a happy client when all is said and done, particularly when it’s obvious to that person that you cared about them and their case. 

What is one thing you wish you would have known before becoming an attorney and why? 

There's an incredible amount of hard work behind the scenes before you get to the oral argument or trial that the public sees. By the time you are making a presentation to the Court, we normally know the facts of the matter better than the clients did, which requires a very lengthy study of the documents and development of evidence through depositions and discovery requests. It's a lot less glamorous than what I remember from watching Matlock growing up. 

What is the best advice you have ever received in the legal profession? 

 Particularly as a plaintiff-side lawyer, your best “clients” are other lawyers. If you can develop a healthy network of relationships and a good reputation for hard work and fair dealing with your clients, colleagues, and opposing counsel, other lawyers will refer you clients or seek you out to co-counsel on cases, and it will keep you busy with interesting projects. 

Where are you from and how did you end up in New Orleans? 

My mother was an academic, so I grew up in several college towns and graduated high school in Columbus, Ohio. I first came to New Orleans to study music at Loyola and fell in love with the city. I went away again for law school, but I never seriously considered practicing anywhere else. 

Where did you go to law school? 

NYU. 

Name one thing that you could not live without and why? 

 Coffee. I drink a disturbing number of cups a day, from dawn ‘til dusk. 

What would you do professionally if you were not an attorney and why?   

 Law professor. I loved college and generally like debating with smart people. 

Other than your career, what are you passionate about and why?   

I love music, of all kinds. I play piano as often as I can, and I try to make as many days of Jazzfest as I can muster. I'm also on the board of the Musical Arts Society of New Orleans, which hosts the New Orleans International Piano Competition every other summer, featuring some of the best young classical pianists in the world. This city has an embarrassment of riches musically, and I wish I could get to more of it. 

Favorite New Orleans dish and restaurant?   

My favorite restaurant is Peche, and I love every small plate they have to offer. 

You get one superpower. What is it and why? 

Stop time. There are never enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do. 

What is a recent “success” you’ve had, either professional or personal, and how did you make it happen?   

Reaching a nationwide settlement with student loan servicer Navient Solutions, LLC and Navient Credit Finance Corporation was a big success. Our team secured approximately $236 million in debt relief for private student loan borrowers, as well as $44 million in cash compensation. But even more than the numbers, it felt good to hold someone accountable for predatory behavior that not only hurts some of society’s most vulnerable people but also subverts how the bankruptcy process is set up to work. And we made it happen with persistence. Our team went above and beyond in reaching out to potential claimants, many of whom didn’t even know they were covered by the class, and I could not be more proud of that.