Think You Know Whistleblowers? Think Again.

Host Jonathan Porter welcomes Husch Blackwell’s Jody Rudman to this inaugural podcast episode to discuss the changing profile of whistleblowers in False Claims Act (FCA) litigation.Traditionally, relators, or whistleblowers, in FCA litigation, have been employees who bring fraud claims against their employers, but recent cases demonstrate that potential whistleblowers are lurking far beyond a company’s roster of employees and include vendors, consultants, customers or clients, and members of the general public.This episode of False Claims Act Insights explores the role whistleblowers play in FCA litigation and the mechanics of how cases are filed and handled, including how companies find out whether they have been accused of fraud by a whistleblower and the government’s decision-making process in determining if and when it will intervene in the lawsuit. We talk about how whistleblowers can be current employees who take records and record conversations, leading to occasionally criminal results, and we talk about ways companies wrongfully accused by a whistleblower can sue their whistleblower for malicious prosecution. We end with some practical considerations for companies embroiled in FCA disputes that can help drive better outcomes.Jonathan Porter BiographyFull BiographyJonathan 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 BiographyFull BiographyJody 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.