Host Jonathan Porter welcomes to the show Michael Schrier, a Washington-based partner in Husch Blackwell’s Government Contracts practice, to discuss a recent executive order (EO) issued by President Donald Trump that could, if it survives legal scrutiny, introduce a new category of False Claims Act (FCA) liability to government contractors. 

Jonathan and Michael kick off the discussion with a brief overview of the historical context surrounding President Trump’s EO, including the Lyndon Johnson-era EO that it seeks to displace. For decades, federal contractors and subcontractors had to affirmatively ensure that employment practices are non-discriminatory against any person based on race, ethnicity, sex, national origin, or religion. Through executive action, the Trump administration has revoked this framework and created new requirements, including a prohibition against enforcing affirmative action in government contracts and certifications from contractors and grant recipients that they do not operate DE&I programs that violate federal anti-discrimination laws.

As Jonathan and Michael discuss, the new EO is not without its legal challenges. On February 21, 2025, a federal judge issued a 63-page memorandum opinion and a nationwide preliminary injunction prohibiting the federal government from enforcing some of the EO’s key provisions, offering temporary relief to contractors, grant recipients, and private employers who are concerned that they will be a target of administration efforts to search out and potentially prosecute “illegal DEI.”

How does this new EO—and the pending litigation attached to it—intersect with the FCA? Jonathan and Michael explore how the EO and its express reference to the FCA set in motion the potential for whistleblower claims pertaining to the operation of certain DE&I programs, but the court-imposed stay has created limbo as to the EO’s legality. The conversation turns to consider how contractors should approach new and existing federal government contracts in light of these developments, including the uneasy relationship between federal and state-level laws and contracts that could have contradictory requirements, setting up a Kafkaesque dilemma for compliance teams. 

Jonathan and Michael wrap up the conversation by exploring how the new EO complicates compliance with various other government contract requirements, some of which are statutory in nature, such as the Small Business Administration’s 8(a) program, a federal contracting and training program for small business owners who are socially and economically disadvantaged.

Jonathan Porter Biography

Full Biography

Jonathan focuses on white collar criminal defense, federal investigations brought under the False Claims Act, and litigation against the government and whistleblowers, where he uses his experience as a former federal prosecutor to guide clients in sensitive and enterprise-threatening litigation. At the Department of Justice, Jonathan earned a reputation as a top white collar prosecutor and trial lawyer and was a key member of multiple international healthcare fraud takedowns and high-profile financial crime prosecution teams. He serves as a vice chair of the American Health Law Association’s Fraud and Abuse Practice Group and teaches white collar crime as an adjunct professor of law at Mercer University School of Law.

Michael Schrier Biography

Full Biography

Michael represents federal contractors, grant recipients, and companies and institutions doing business with or having matters before the U.S. government across a diverse array of matters, including construction litigation and labor and employment law. His employment-related advice includes matters in connection with the Davis-Bacon Act, Service Contract Act, federal contractor Paid Sick Leave, federal contractor minimum wage, and OFCCP matters. Michael represents clients in Contract Disputes Act, Miller Act and breach of contract claims in federal and state trial and appellate courts and in bid protests before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and U.S. Government Accountability Office. In addition, he advises clients on Federal Acquisition Regulation compliance, facilities and security clearances, False Claims Act, Buy American Act, and debarment/suspension matters.

Further Reading

Michael J. Schrier, Brian P. Waagner, Tracey O’Brien, and Catarina A. Colón. “Federal Court Issues Preliminary Injunction Enjoining Key Portions of Anti-DEI Executive Orders,” February 24, 2025.

Michael J. Schrier and Tracey O’Brien. “White House Revokes E.O. 11246, Targets DEI Programs Alleged to Violate Anti-Discrimination Laws,” January 23, 2025.

Host Jonathan Porter welcomes Abe Souza, a new member of Husch Blackwell’s White Collar, Internal Investigations, & Compliance team, to the podcast to discuss newly released Department of Justice data regarding qui tam litigation, as well as DOJ’s False Claims Act priorities and best practices for defusing FCA investigations. There was a record number of qui tam lawsuits filed in 2024, and while whistleblower filings hit an all-time high, DOJ’s recoveries and investigative resources have remained mostly flat, leading to a crucial question—how does DOJ decide which qui tams to pursue?

Jonathan and Abe use their experience serving within DOJ to shed light on how DOJ prioritizes FCA investigations. The discussion touches on the time-management aspects of an Assistant U.S. Attorney’s job and how these time limitations force AUSAs to focus on cases where there is a potential to secure a significant settlement or judgment and where the underlying allegations detail egregious conduct accompanied by strong evidence that can be marshaled at trial. Additionally, DOJ is more apt to end an investigation when there is some evidence of a violation, but the violation was immaterial to the government’s payment decision.

The conversation then shifts to explore how qui tam complaints make their way through the legal system and how defendants can best defend these types of investigations. There is often a substantial degree of investigative activity already ongoing when defendants learn of an FCA investigation, usually via a civil investigative demand. Jonathan and Abe discuss the importance of the tone of initial and subsequent communications between defendants and the government, as they can play an important role in whether the government ultimately elects to join the lawsuit. While not dispositive, declinations are hugely influential, as many whistleblowers will voluntarily dismiss FCA actions if the government decides not to join the suit. Jonathan and Abe explain the inflection points of qui tam litigation and how DOJ approaches declination and dismissal requests based on how the case is proceeding.

Jonathan and Abe also cover what happens in qui tam cases after DOJ declines to join a lawsuit and how defendants can manage litigation risk in these instances.

Jonathan Porter Biography

Full Biography

Jonathan focuses on white collar criminal defense, federal investigations brought under the False Claims Act, and litigation against the government and whistleblowers, where he uses his experience as a former federal prosecutor to guide clients in sensitive and enterprise-threatening litigation. At the Department of Justice, Jonathan earned a reputation as a top white collar prosecutor and trial lawyer and was a key member of multiple international healthcare fraud takedowns and high-profile financial crime prosecution teams. He serves as a vice chair of the American Health Law Association’s Fraud and Abuse Practice Group and teaches white collar crime as an adjunct professor of law at Mercer University School of Law.

Abraham J. Souza Biography

Full Biography

Abe regularly represents clients embroiled in internal and government investigations, as well as in government enforcement actions. Abe also represents clients in complex business disputes and commercial litigation matters, including those involving antitrust and class action claims. Prior to joining Husch Blackwell, Abe served for nearly five years as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of Illinois where he worked directly with FBI agents and other investigators and served as a first-chair trial lawyer. Abe began his legal career as a law clerk for the Honorable Joan Humphrey Lefkow of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Host Jonathan Porter welcomes Husch Blackwell partner Bob Romashko to the show to discuss an emerging area of False Claims Act liability—tariffs. True to his campaign promises to impose additional tariffs on major U.S. trading partners, President Trump has been active early in his second term wielding the threat of tariffs against friend and foe alike.

As the tariff regime potentially expands, so do the risks posed by whistleblowers who could benefit from alleging violations of trade law. Jonathan and Bob summarize at a high level the tariff system and how its regulatory framework creates the potential for FCA liability. They explore how allegations of FCA violations often take the form of reverse false claims, which concern efforts to fraudulently withhold monies owed to the government, such as failing to disclose or falsely representing an obligation. In the trade context, these disclosures can be complex, especially as the tariff regime covers general tariffs, product-specific tariffs, and country-of-origin tariffs, each with very different classifications and definitions. 

Jonathan and Bob explore in depth some issues associated with tariff-related FCA litigation that are unusual and worth considering. More so than the typical healthcare or defense industry FCA litigation, tariff-related FCA cases are often filed by relators who are also business competitors, rather than “insiders” such as employees. This has important implications, especially given that the FCA is not a strict liability statute. Jonathan and Bob discuss recent “textbook” cases to demonstrate how honest mistakes can put a company at risk, as the costs associated with protracted litigation can compel companies to settle, even in the absence of a knowing violation. Jonathan and Bob also explore the federal district court judiciary’s unfamiliarity with some forms of trade-related litigation, as customs penalty cases are typically handled by the U.S. Court of International Trade.

Jonathan and Bob conclude the episode with a discussion of what companies that work with importers need to know about FCA enforcement. Drawing from a recent FCA lawsuit, they explore the elements required to defend against relator claims and how those impact third-party participants, including warehousers, shippers, and others involved in the supply chain.

Jonathan Porter Biography

Full Biography

Jonathan focuses on white collar criminal defense, federal investigations brought under the False Claims Act, and litigation against the government and whistleblowers, where he uses his experience as a former federal prosecutor to guide clients in sensitive and enterprise-threatening litigation. At the Department of Justice, Jonathan earned a reputation as a top white collar prosecutor and trial lawyer and was a key member of multiple international healthcare fraud takedowns and high-profile financial crime prosecution teams. He serves as a vice chair of the American Health Law Association’s Fraud and Abuse Practice Group and teaches white collar crime as an adjunct professor of law at Mercer University School of Law.

Robert Romashko Biography

Full Biography

Bob is a Washington, DC-based partner at Husch Blackwell and the leader of the firm’s Tax practice group. He routinely handles client matters in connection with government investigations carried out by tax authorities and other government agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, Department of Justice, and Office of Inspector General. Bob has a deep understanding of how government investigators think and act and how they approach potential fraud and compliance issues. He also maintains a litigation practice defending companies against whistleblower claims, specifically against the False Claims Act and allegations of Stark Law violations. Prior to joining Husch Blackwell, Bob spent six years as senior attorney with the IRS Office of Chief Counsel.

Host Jonathan Porter welcomes Husch Blackwell partner Kip Randall back to the program to dig deeper into Omni Healthcare, Inc. et al v. MD Spine Solutions LLC et al., a False Claims Act litigation in which the defendant inadvertently waived privilege by sharing documents with the U.S. government, documents that later found their way to the whistleblower. 

The discussion begins with a brief summary of what information the Department of Justice can access through civil investigative demands (CIDs) and what is off limits to government investigators, including documents that fall under attorney-client privilege; however, the right to privilege can be waived. Such waivers can be intentional or accidental, with the latter circumstance occurring when document reviews in response to CID requests fail to catch privileged material. The conversation then explores how waivers—intentional or inadvertent—work in practice and how they impact the arc of litigation. 

Most prosecutors—most of the time—are extremely conscientious about coming into contact with potentially privileged information, but when such vigilance lapses, it can have serious implications for defending against FCA allegations, such as those seen in the MD Spine case. MD Spine highlights the limitations placed upon the government in its custodial role concerning those with whom the government can share privileged information. The discussion dives into the details of MD Spine and its implications for similarly situated FCA cases and wraps up with some practical takeaways to consider.

Jonathan Porter Biography

Full Biography

Jonathan focuses on white collar criminal defense, federal investigations brought under the False Claims Act, and litigation against the government and whistleblowers, where he uses his experience as a former federal prosecutor to guide clients in sensitive and enterprise-threatening litigation. At the Department of Justice, Jonathan earned a reputation as a top white collar prosecutor and trial lawyer and was a key member of multiple international healthcare fraud takedowns and high-profile financial crime prosecution teams. He serves as a vice chair of the American Health Law Association’s Fraud and Abuse Practice Group and teaches white collar crime as an adjunct professor of law at Mercer University School of Law.

Kip Randall Biography

Full Biography

Kip is a partner with Husch Blackwell’s White Collar, Internal Investigations, & Compliance team and counsels corporate and individual clients through internal investigations and those embroiled in government investigations, including those with the Department of Justice (DOJ), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Internal Revenue Service (IRS). He also maintains an active commercial litigation practice in a variety of matters, including class actions, business disputes, and product liability matters, among other areas.

Host Jonathan Porter welcomes Husch Blackwell partner Cormac Connor back to the show for the second part of a two-part conversation exploring the 2024 U.S. presidential election’s potential impact on how the Department of Justice approaches the enforcement and prosecution of corporate crime, particularly violations of the False Claims Act (FCA).

In Part I of the conversation,  Jonathan and Cormac provided an overview of how transitions work from one administration to another, both at Main Justice in Washington as well as in the U.S. Attorneys’ offices around the country. They also covered important changes in policy over the previous three presidential administrations, highlighting how both the 2015 Yates memo and the 2017 Brand memo (and its subsequent rescindment) affected FCA enforcement. 

Part II of this discussion explores how FCA enforcement shifted during the Biden administration and what changes are likely during a second Trump administration. Jonathan and Cormac begin with a discussion of how the aforementioned memos—as well as the so-called Granston memo—figure in day-to-day DOJ activities. They also discuss the Biden administration’s scrutiny on private equity ownership of healthcare enterprises—including the naming of private equity sponsors in FCA litigation—and how that scrutiny could change under a second Trump administration. The discussion wraps up with a brief exploration of United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, an ongoing dispute regarding the constitutional legitimacy of qui tam litigation, and whether the arguments presented in Zafirov will be embraced by the Trump administration’s Justice Department. 

Jonathan Porter Biography

Full Biography

Jonathan focuses on white collar criminal defense, federal investigations brought under the False Claims Act, and litigation against the government and whistleblowers, where he uses his experience as a former federal prosecutor to guide clients in sensitive and enterprise-threatening litigation. At the Department of Justice, Jonathan earned a reputation as a top white collar prosecutor and trial lawyer and was a key member of multiple international healthcare fraud takedowns and high-profile financial crime prosecution teams. He serves as a vice chair of the American Health Law Association’s Fraud and Abuse Practice Group and teaches white collar crime as an adjunct professor of law at Mercer University School of Law.

Cormac Connor Biography

Full Biography

A partner with Husch Blackwell based in Washington, D.C., Cormac has two decades of experience with high-stakes litigation and investigations, both as a prosecutor and as defense counsel. He has advised dozens of clients facing criminal and civil investigations involving all manner of federal criminal investigations, False Claims Act allegations, antitrust allegations, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act claims. Cormac regularly assists clients with responses to formal and informal investigative inquiries, including Grand Jury subpoenas, Office of Inspector General subpoenas, civil investigative demands, and 28 U.S.C. § 1782 subpoenas. Between his stints in private practice, Cormac was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for nearly four years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, serving as lead prosecutor in 24 criminal trials, investigating hundreds of criminal cases, managing Grand Jury investigations, and coordinating investigative activities by law enforcement personnel.

Cormac is the 2024 recipient of Husch Blackwell’s Pro Bono Impact Award. He leads the firm’s pro bono partnership with the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, which advances critical mental health advocacy for healthcare workers.

Host Jonathan Porter welcomes Husch Blackwell partner Cormac Connor to the show for the first part of a two-part conversation exploring the 2024 U.S. presidential election’s potential impact on how the Department of Justice approaches the enforcement and prosecution of corporate crime, particularly violations of the False Claims Act (FCA).

The conversation begins with a brief overview of how transitions work from one administration to another, both at Main Justice in Washington as well as in the U.S. Attorneys’ offices around the country. Jonathan and Cormac cover the distinction between political appointees and career DOJ employees and why most FCA investigations and prosecutions survive transitions in political power.

Rather than case-specific changes, far more common during transitions is a recalibration of DOJ’s policies and priorities. Jonathan and Cormac provide a summary of how DOJ has shifted its stance on certain issues pertaining to FCA enforcement over several recent administrations, including notably the 2015 Yates memo, which placed a great deal of emphasis on individual accountability in the context of cooperating with the government during an investigation. The first Trump administration modified the Yates memo’s approach, extending some degree of cooperation credit to companies even in the absence of “naming names” or otherwise pushing individual corporate leaders into the investigative spotlight. The conversation also covers the 2017 Brand memo, which sought to end DOJ’s use of sub-regulatory guidance in affirmative civil enforcement actions, like FCA enforcement efforts. The Brand memo was rescinded by DOJ under Attorney General Merrick Garland, but the likelihood is high that the incoming Trump administration will reinstate it in some form in 2025.

A future Part II of this discussion will cover how FCA enforcement shifted during the Biden administration and what changes are likely during a second Trump administration.

Jonathan Porter Biography

Full Biography

Jonathan focuses on white collar criminal defense, federal investigations brought under the False Claims Act, and litigation against the government and whistleblowers, where he uses his experience as a former federal prosecutor to guide clients in sensitive and enterprise-threatening litigation. At the Department of Justice, Jonathan earned a reputation as a top white collar prosecutor and trial lawyer and was a key member of multiple international healthcare fraud takedowns and high-profile financial crime prosecution teams. He serves as a vice chair of the American Health Law Association’s Fraud and Abuse Practice Group and teaches white collar crime as an adjunct professor of law at Mercer University School of Law.

Cormac Connor Biography

Full Biography

A partner with Husch Blackwell based in Washington, D.C., Cormac has two decades of experience with high-stakes litigation and investigations, both as a prosecutor and as defense counsel. He has advised dozens of clients facing criminal and civil investigations involving all manner of federal criminal investigations, False Claims Act allegations, antitrust allegations, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act claims. Cormac regularly assists clients with responses to formal and informal investigative inquiries, including Grand Jury subpoenas, Office of Inspector General subpoenas, civil investigative demands, and 28 U.S.C. § 1782 subpoenas. Between his stints in private practice, Cormac was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for nearly four years in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, serving as lead prosecutor in 24 criminal trials, investigating hundreds of criminal cases, managing Grand Jury investigations, and coordinating investigative activities by law enforcement personnel.

Cormac is the 2024 recipient of Husch Blackwell’s Pro Bono Impact Award. He leads the firm’s pro bono partnership with the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation, which advances critical mental health advocacy for healthcare workers.

Host Jonathan Porter welcomes Husch Blackwell litigator Tanner Cook to discuss how the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision from earlier this year could have a major influence on False Claims Act litigation. The Court’s decision in Loper Bright ended decades of so-called Chevron deference, which held that courts had to defer to administrative agencies’ interpretation of the law when a statute was silent or ambiguous on a particular issue. Instead, Loper Bright affirms the idea that courts reviewing agency actions “decide all relevant questions of law.” This change could have a powerful impact on FCA litigation, as private businesses more easily will be able to mount legal challenges to agencies’ interpretations of ambiguous statutory language.

Jonathan and Tanner focus the discussion on Loper Bright’s implications on the concept of materiality, a key statutory component for determining FCA liability. “Material” in the FCA context describes factors that impact the government’s payment decisions, and much hangs on this concept when whistleblowers allege FCA-related fraud. After all, not all regulatory violations are material.

Jonathan and Tanner discuss recent litigation in which defendants have employed Loper Bright to challenge an agency’s interpretive rules—that is, an agency’s interpretation of law, rather than its substantive rulemaking tied to an explicit statutory delegation of power—under the theory that rules lacking the force of law are ipso facto nonmaterial. Given the significant percentage of FCA cases premised on obscure interpretative rules, Loper Bright changes the scope of legal analysis and could assist defendants in limiting FCA liability. 

Jonathan Porter Biography

Full Biography

Jonathan focuses on white collar criminal defense, federal investigations brought under the False Claims Act, and litigation against the government and whistleblowers, where he uses his experience as a former federal prosecutor to guide clients in sensitive and enterprise-threatening litigation. At the Department of Justice, Jonathan earned a reputation as a top white collar prosecutor and trial lawyer and was a key member of multiple international healthcare fraud takedowns and high-profile financial crime prosecution teams. He serves as a vice chair of the American Health Law Association’s Fraud and Abuse Practice Group and teaches white collar crime as an adjunct professor of law at Mercer University School of Law.

Tanner Cook Biography

Full Biography

Based in St, Louis, Tanner is a member of Husch Blackwell’s Commercial Litigation group and focuses on consumer class actions, antitrust litigation, and multidistrict litigation. Tanner frequently takes the lead in drafting critical pretrial briefs, including dispositive motions and evidentiary challenges. In addition to his commercial litigation practice, Tanner regularly assists on white collar defense matters, especially in the False Claims Act context. Tanner has significant experience defending companies from qui tam whistleblower suits at every stage of the litigation process, combining his deep substantive knowledge of the law with creative defense strategies. Tanner served as law clerk at the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Missouri, for Judge Sarah E. Pitlyk.

Additional Resources

Tanner Cook, “Loper Bright and Materiality Under the False Claims Act,” October 31, 2024

False Claims Act Insights, Episode 9, “If Everything Matters, Nothing Does: Parsing Materiality in FCA Disputes,” August 12, 2024

Gregg N. Sofer and Joseph S. Diedrich, “Landmark Supreme Court Decisions Restrain Federal Administrative Agency Power,” June 28, 2024

Husch Blackwell’s Rebecca Furdek joins host Jonathan Porter to discuss civil investigative demands (CIDs), how and when the Department of Justice (DOJ) uses them in the False Claims Act context, and what companies can do to limit or set aside CIDs. Given how broad and powerful a tool CIDs are—and given the potentially enormous consequences that hang on responses to CIDs—Rebecca and Jonathan explore at length the statutory foundation of CIDs and how companies should approach these demands to produce information.

There are few statutory limitations on the scope of information the government can demand of private businesses, but companies should be well versed in those that do exist. Rebecca and Jonathan talk about strategies to use in shaping conversations with DOJ to limit CIDs and thus reduce the time and expense of compliance; however, DOJ is not always amenable to those discussions. In those instances, a company could decide to litigate, petitioning a court to modify or set aside the CID. Rebecca and Jonathan discuss recent litigation in this instance and explore when bringing these legal challenges makes sense.

Jonathan Porter Biography

Full Biography

Jonathan focuses on white collar criminal defense, federal investigations brought under the False Claims Act, and litigation against the government and whistleblowers, where he uses his experience as a former federal prosecutor to guide clients in sensitive and enterprise-threatening litigation. At the Department of Justice, Jonathan earned a reputation as a top white collar prosecutor and trial lawyer and was a key member of multiple international healthcare fraud takedowns and high-profile financial crime prosecution teams. He serves as a vice chair of the American Health Law Association’s Fraud and Abuse Practice Group and teaches white collar crime as an adjunct professor of law at Mercer University School of Law.

Rebecca Furdek Biography

Full Biography

A senior associate in Husch Blackwell’s Milwaukee office, Rebecca is a member of the firm’s White Collar, Internal Investigations & Compliance team and regularly helps clients navigate today’s regulatory and government enforcement landscape. Before joining Husch, Rebecca served as Counsel to the Solicitor at the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), where she gained firsthand insight into federal agency rulemaking and administrative enforcement. Prior to her government service, Rebecca worked as an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of a global law firm, focusing on litigation and government enforcement, and began her legal career as a judicial law clerk at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. During law school, she served as a law clerk with the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. In September 2024, Rebecca was elected to the partnership of Husch Blackwell, effective January 2025.

Host Jonathan Porter is joined by Husch Blackwell partner Hal Katz to discuss healthcare transactions in the context of the False Claims Act (FCA) and other regulatory frameworks applicable to the healthcare industry. As evidenced by the recent torrent of state- and federal-level laws aimed at healthcare, no industry is asked by its regulators to jump through so many hoops as healthcare when it comes to acquisitions, business combinations, and joint ventures. In this episode, Jonathan and Hal explore how healthcare business leaders can approach transactions without triggering an avalanche of legal liability.

Our discussion begins with a brief primer on how the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute intersect with the FCA. Jonathan and Hal then apply this framework to healthcare transactions, reviewing and building on concepts from an August 2024 article they published in Healthcare Business Today, including scenarios frequently encountered as the healthcare industry continues to consolidate and reconfigure.

The discussion then dives into a few specific lawsuits and enforcement actions to illustrate how healthcare transactions are a species all to their own with unique risk profiles and regulatory obstacles. Jonathan and Hal wrap up the episode by providing some practical suggestions for healthcare leaders who are engaged in or contemplating transactions, especially around calculating and documenting the valuation of businesses and managing communications between buyers and sellers.

Jonathan Porter Biography

Full Biography

Jonathan focuses on white collar criminal defense, federal investigations brought under the False Claims Act, and litigation against the government and whistleblowers, where he uses his experience as a former federal prosecutor to guide clients in sensitive and enterprise-threatening litigation. At the Department of Justice, Jonathan earned a reputation as a top white collar prosecutor and trial lawyer and was a key member of multiple international healthcare fraud takedowns and high-profile financial crime prosecution teams. He serves as a vice chair of the American Health Law Association’s Fraud and Abuse Practice Group and teaches white collar crime as an adjunct professor of law at Mercer University School of Law.

Hal Katz Biography

Full Biography

Based in Austin, Texas, Hal provides healthcare clients with guidance on corporate, transactional, regulatory, and public policy matters. With over 30 years in practice, he has witnessed firsthand the evolution of the healthcare industry that continues to reshape the business and approaches of healthcare delivery. He represents for-profit, nonprofit, and governmental entities, including medical groups, hospitals, technology companies, behavioral health organizations, private equity funds, academic medical centers, and health plans. Since 2011, Hal has served the American Bar Association’s Health Law Section in a variety of leadership posts— including as its Chair from 2020 to 2021—and currently serves as Chair of its Strategic Solutions Committee. Additionally, from 2017 to 2018, he chaired the Health Law Section of the State Bar of Texas. 

Host Jonathan Porter is joined by Husch Blackwell partners Jody Rudman and Lorinda Holloway to discuss the implications of a September 2024 federal court decision from the Middle District of Florida that strikes down the False Claims Act’s qui tam provisions as unconstitutional. Our conversation begins with a brief overview of the lawsuit, U.S. ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, and the constitutional questions it raises. We examine the case law history of similarly situated cases in other trial and circuit courts and review the prevailing jurisprudence of the constitutional law at the heart of the recent decision. 

Will Zafirov be hugely consequential, or is it a mere constitutional curiosity? Our discussion explores the likely path forward for the case and how it could impact False Claims Act enforcement. When constitutional challenges of this scale emerge, they can appear to be jolting or sudden, but the groundwork for this case had been in the works for some time, and our discussion reveals why and how Zafirov has brought the FCA’s qui tam provisions under a constitutional spotlight.

Jonathan Porter Biography

Full Biography

Jonathan focuses on white collar criminal defense, federal investigations brought under the False Claims Act, and litigation against the government and whistleblowers, where he uses his experience as a former federal prosecutor to guide clients in sensitive and enterprise-threatening litigation. At the Department of Justice, Jonathan earned a reputation as a top white collar prosecutor and trial lawyer and was a key member of multiple international healthcare fraud takedowns and high-profile financial crime prosecution teams. He serves as a vice chair of the American Health Law Association’s Fraud and Abuse Practice Group and teaches white collar crime as an adjunct professor of law at Mercer University School of Law.

Jody Rudman Biography

Full Biography

Jody serves as the Office Managing Partner for Husch Blackwell's Austin office and leads the firm's White Collar, Internal Investigations & Compliance practice group. She also spearheads the firm’s False Claims Act working group. She has assisted clients across a wide range of industries with investigations, negotiations, mediations, pretrial matters, grand jury proceedings, civil lawsuits, criminal indictments, jury trials, sentencings and appeals. She has tried dozens of jury and bench trials in the federal and state courts, argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Prior to entering private practice, Jody served as a federal prosecutor for the Northern District of Texas and was appointed by the Texas Attorney General to spearhead high-profile charitable trust and healthcare litigation matters for the State of Texas.

Lorinda Holloway Biography

Full Biography

Based in Austin, Texas, Lorinda is a member of the Husch Blackwell’s Healthcare, Life Sciences and Education industry team and counsels clients on matters concerning government investigations and disputes. For more than 25 years, she has advised and represented clients in and out of the courtroom with a particular focus on the healthcare industry, including False Claims Act, Texas Medicaid Fraud Prevention Act, and qui tam related investigations and lawsuits, audits, and in business disputes in state and federal court. Her experience in healthcare has also led to the education field, including a focus on the legal challenges faced in academic medicine.