Jason Geisker

Jason is a well-recognised class action lawyer, commercial litigator and litigation funder. He is one of the select few litigation lawyers to have been formally recognised by his peers in the Doyles' rankings as a leading lawyer both in the field of commercial litigation and dispute resolution in New South Wales and in the field of class action litigators across Australia.

A tenacious and diligent lawyer, Jason pursues cases with the client’s strategic goals and objectives front of mind. Since his admission in 1996 Jason has acted in a number of high profile and significant matters, such as the Australian consumer class actions brought against ‘dieselgate’ vehicle manufacturers, Volkswagen, Audi and Skoda involved in selling heavily polluting diesel vehicles as low emission 'clean TDI’ technology cars.  These class actions culminated in settlement payments from the vehicle manufacturers of over $170m for the benefit of Australian motorists.

"Jason's pursuit to ensure the truth is presented is unwavering and cannot be faulted. I felt that he went beyond what was required in learning all technical aspects of our case and his ability to be able to communicate to the client ensured they understood these were very professional.

The client was, is, key in Jason's mind and the confidence that was seen allowed a high level of comfort in knowing that everything was being done to make the case successful. Nothing is too difficult or too much of a challenge and he will support you through a case." - Aliister Dalton, VW Class Action Lead Applicant 

A selection of other cases Jason has conducted include:

• City Pacific Limited litigation conducted in the Federal Court of Australia on behalf of Trilogy Funds Management for the benefit of over 11,000 investors.  The proceedings were brought against former City Pacific Limited directors for breaches of the Corporations Act and culminated in a favourable $63m judgment plus costs obtained in March 2016 following a lengthy trial.  This decision was successfully maintained on appeals to both the Full Federal Court and the High Court of Australia.
  
  
• The Nufarm class action, which settled for $46.63m on behalf of over 3,000 investors, arising from allegations that Nufarm had breached its continuous disclosure obligations to the ASX, and provided its FY2010 financial forecast without any reasonable basis and had engaged in misleading conduct.
  
  
• The AWB class action, which settled for $39.5m on behalf of 1,300 eligible shareholders, arising from allegations of AWB’s unlawful involvement in the United Nations ‘Oil-for-food’ kickback scandal. That case alleged that AWB failed to disclose the nature of several hundred millions dollars in ‘kickback’ payments made to Saddam Hussein's regime, and that AWB engaged in misleading or deceptive conduct.
  
  
• The Gunns class action, brought on behalf of over 300 shareholders, arising from allegations that Gunns failed to disclose material information regarding a significant deterioration in its financial performance in 2009, which resulted in settlements ultimately being obtained from the directors after Gunns was placed into external administration. 

“Our class action team’s unparalleled success in Australia is recognised internationally, throughout the legal profession and by litigation funders and the various corporate and government respondents against whom we take action. We have now recovered in excess of $3.7 billion for victims of wrongdoing in Australia.”

A selection of recent funded cases Jason has overseen include:

• The Southern Response class action, brought in the High Court of New Zealand on behalf of over 3,000 insured claimants who had been misled and underpaid insurance entitlements due to them arising from the Canterbury earthquakes. This landmark litigation also became the first ever case to proceed to the Supreme Court of NZ on the question of whether ‘opt out’ class actions were available in NZ and was successful on that issue: Southern Response Earthquake Services Limited v Brendan Miles Ross and Colleen Anne Ross [2020] NZSC 126. These claims were ultimately settled with over $300m in compensation payments made to class members via a government settlement scheme.
  
  
• A successful settlement of claims in the Supreme Court of South Australia for a liquidator who brought insolvent trading claims against the directors of a listed mining entity that had collapsed owing hundreds of millions to creditors.
  
  
• A successful settlement of claims brought by a liquidator in the Federal Court of Australia for breach of directors’ duties under s.180 of the Corporations Act 2001, involving the collapse of a listed mining entity. That funded claim proceeded to the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia on appeal before ultimately being settled: Termite Resources NL (in liq) v Meadows, in the matter of Termite Resources NL (in liq) (No 2) [2019] FCA 354.

"Our litigation funding team’s track record is at the forefront of the industry. With a success rate of 96% and recognised industry experts across locations around Australia, Claims Funding Australia are the litigation funding experts clients are choosing to have by their side”.

For the last 30 years Jason has contributed to various legal and policy reforms, including access to justice issues, litigation funding developments and civil procedure and law reform. Jason writes broadly in the developing area of class actions and litigation funding in Australia and New Zealand.

Accreditations & memberships

• Law Society of NSW member
• Australian Restructuring Insolvency & Turnaround Association (ARITA) associate member
  
• Doyles 2016 Leading NSW Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Lawyers
  
• Doyles 2018 Leading NSW Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Lawyers
• Doyles 2020 Leading NSW Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Lawyers
• Doyles 2021 Leading NSW Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Lawyers
• Doyles 2022 Leading NSW Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution Lawyers
• Doyles 2022 Leading Class Actions Lawyers Australia
• Doyles 2023 Leading Class Actions Lawyers Australia
• Doyles 2024 Leading Class Actions Lawyers Australia