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The Texas Lawbook

Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury

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Bruce Tomaso

Bruce Tomaso spent more than 30 years as a writer and editor at The Dallas Morning News. When asked what positions he held there, he usually says it’s easier to list those he didn’t.

As enterprise editor on The News’s breaking news desk in the summer of 2016, he played a key role in covering the downtown shooting spree that left five police officers dead. For its coverage, The News was a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in Breaking News Reporting.

He spent most of 1997 in Denver covering the federal criminal trials of Oklahoma City bombers Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. Four years later, he covered McVeigh’s execution.

His first major reporting assignment for The Texas Lawbook was a retrospective on the 20th anniversary of the $119.6 million verdict for 10 young men who’d been molested as children by Rudy Kos, a priest in the Catholic Diocese of Dallas. The stories earned Bruce and his Lawbook editor, Allen Pusey, the Dallas Bar Association’s 2018 Stephen Philbin Award for Feature Writing.

In 2019, he covered the seven-week medical fraud trial of nine physicians, healthcare executives and others associated with Forest Park Medical Center, a now-defunct Dallas surgical hospital.

He’s a member of the Alumni Hall of Fame at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He and his wife, Dallas attorney Patricia A. Nolan, have one grown son, who is smarter than either of them.

He will drop everything, including preposterous sums of money, to see Lady Gaga, Notre Dame football, or the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team.

You can reach Bruce at bruce.tomaso@texaslawbook.net.

Veteran Dallas Prosecutor Tapped as EDTX U.S. Attorney

If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, as expected, Damien Diggs would be the first Black U.S. attorney in the 166-year-old Eastern District.

February 2, 2023 Bruce Tomaso

Royal Furgeson, DBA’s 2023 MLK Justice Award Recipient: ‘As Lawyers, Equal Justice Is Central to Our Very Being’

On Monday, Royal Furgeson, retired federal judge and founding dean of the UNT Dallas College of Law, received the Dallas Bar Association’s 2023 Martin Luther King Jr. Justice Award. In his acceptance speech, Judge Furgeson talked about the special duty of lawyers to carry on King’s work. Read the full text exclusively here.

January 17, 2023 Bruce Tomaso

‘Medical Emergency’ Forces Mistrial in Oft-Delayed $158M Pharmacy Fraud Case

After eight aborted settings since 2017, the trial on bribery and kickback charges was under way in Dallas when a defense lawyer needed surgery. Rather than resuming after a monthlong delay — and making jurors work through the holidays — U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay rescheduled the trial for next September.

December 29, 2022 Bruce Tomaso

Dallas Jury Rules for Defendants in Wrongful Death Suit by Family of Electrocuted Worker

On their second day of deliberation, jurors in the court of state District Judge Monica McCoy Purdy awarded damages of $3.94 million to the family of electrician Gabriel Vela, who was killed in 2019 while working at a West Texas midstream energy plant. However, because the jury found Vela 51 percent responsible for his death, the defendants will not be liable. Bruce Tomaso reports.

November 15, 2022 Bruce Tomaso

Wrongful Death Suit Over Worker’s Electrocution is a Grab for a ‘Champagne and Caviar Lifestyle,’ Defense Lawyer Says

In closing arguments, attorneys for a West Texas midstream gas facility say electrician Gabriel Vela died because of his own negligence. A plaintiff’s attorney counters that the gas plant’s conduct was ‘the grossest of gross negligence’ he’s seen in 34 years of practice.

November 14, 2022 Bruce Tomaso

Federal Judge’s $3.64M Verdict Doesn’t Quell Long, Bitter Litigation Between Legal Recruiters

Since U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ruled that Evan P. Jowers improperly poached business from his former boss, Robert E. Kinney, Jowers has filed a new lawsuit in Florida and a motion for a protective order, alleging that Kinney threatened his family. Kinney, in turn, is seeking sanctions against Jowers and his current and former lawyers.

November 14, 2022 Bruce Tomaso

Worker’s Electrocution Blamed on Multiple Failures at West Texas Midstream Plant

In opening statements in state court in Dallas, lawyers for the family of Gabriel Vela say EnLink Midstream cut corners in its rush to expand the plant. Defense lawyers say Vela’s actions led to his death.

November 1, 2022 Bruce Tomaso

Alleged Kickbacks in Pharmacy Fraud Trial Were Legitimate Loans to Doctors, Defense Lawyers Contend

In opening statements, the defense attorneys tell jurors in Dallas their clients did not write thousands of bogus prescriptions, for which the government was billed $196 million, as a federal indictment contends.

October 20, 2022 Bruce Tomaso

Biden Nominates Three for U.S. Attorney Slots in Texas

Long-awaited nominations are in to lead prosecutions for the Northern, Southern and Western Districts of Texas. Two of the nominees are veteran federal prosecutors; the third was El Paso’s DA for 27 years. Still to come: a nominee as U.S. attorney in the Eastern District. Bruce Tomaso has the details.

October 14, 2022 Bruce Tomaso

$158M Healthcare Fraud Trial Starts in Dallas Next Week

Long delayed by COVID, the trial involves what federal authorities say is a $158 million scam by doctors and pharmacies to bill a government workers’ insurance program for fraudulent, ultra-costly prescriptions.

October 13, 2022 Bruce Tomaso

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Primary Sidebar

Features

  • HF Sinclair’s Vaishali Bhatia Balances Concerns of Business and Law, and Wins a Green Apatosaurus - Vaishali Bhatia experienced five crazy months in 2022. As HollyFrontier's GC, she and her team closed the $400 million acquisition of the Puget Sound Refinery, negotiated and closed the $2.7 billion acquisition of Sinclair Oil Corporation and Sinclair Transportation, which required multiple regulatory approvals and the creation of an entirely new publicly-traded entity. That was immediately followed by a $400 million senior notes offering and a new credit facility.

    Citing those extraordinary successes, the ACC DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook named Bhatia as the 2022 DFW General Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department.
    January 31, 2023Mark Curriden
  • Tuesday Morning’s GC Jennyfer Gray’s Life in the Fast Lane - Jennyfer Gray knows what it means to take it to the limit one more time. As interim general counsel of Tuesday Morning, Gray is helping lead the Dallas-based retailer through turbulent times. Facing severe economic challenges like most retailers, Tuesday Morning and Gray went through multiple financings and credit facilities, including a $110 million asset-based loan, and the transition to a new executive leadership team and corporate board. In recognition of Gray's achievements, she is the recipient of the 2022 DFW Corporate Counsel Award recipient for General Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department. January 26, 2023Mark Curriden

GCs, Lawyers & Firms

  • Former Texas Appellate Judge Rejoins Dykema - After eight years on the Dallas Court of Appeals, former justice David Schenck is practicing law at his old law firm. In an interview with The Texas Lawbook, Schenck said Dykema was the only firm he seriously considered.
  • White & Case Hires Three Bracewell Litigators in Houston
  • Remembering Fort Worth Federal Judge John McBryde
  • Winstead Elects Jeff Matthews as Next Leader
  • This Associate Logged 100 Hours of Pro Bono in the Last Year. Here’s How He Did It
  • SEC’s David Peavler Joining Jones Day
  • P.S. — A Couple Awards, A Memorial Fund, ‘It’s Fun to Stay at the YMCA’
  • Jonny Havens: An Entrepreneurial Lawyer, Iraq War Veteran & Pro Bono Advocate
More GCs, Lawyers & Firms

Lawyers in the News

Hover right to see full list

Clyde O. “Chip” Adams IV
Priya Aiyar
Doug Bacon
Jim Baldwin
Jesse Craig Barker
Jeffrey Scott Becker
Will Becker
Eryn Berquist
Shawn Blackburn
Victor Boutros
Clayton J. Callen
Chrysta Castañeda
Don Colleluori 
Chris Collins
Deron Dacus
Shumaila Dhuka
Alan Dorantes
Scott G. Edwards
Joanna Enns
Russ Falconer
Jon Finger
Rachel Fitzgerald
Andrew Frackman
Royal Furgeson
David Gair
William Gammon
Maria Garrett
Mitchell Garrett
Rodney Gilstrap
Joseph Grinstein
David Gunn
Charlie Haag
Elizabeth Hadley
Brian Hail
James S. Halpern
Kevin Henderson
James Wesley Hendrix
Joe Hoffman
Garrett Hughey
Joel Israel
Jack Jacobsen
Marc Jaffe
Adam Johnson
Chelsea Johnson
Jim Jordan
Johnathan Jordan
Mike Logan
Marc Kaplan
Dee Kelly Jr.
Gary Kennedy
Jeremy Kennedy
Susan Cannon Kennedy
Chris Kratovil
Douglas M. Kubehl
Bianca LaCaille
Lindsay Lane
David Lange
Adam Larson
Marysia Laskowski
Jonathan Litsey
Ryan Maierson
Jim Marshall
Michael Mazidi
Josh McNulty
Doug McWilliams
Jonathan Mitchell
Adrienne Mosley
Michael Murphy
Cheryl Camin Murray
David A. Nelson
Sarah Nelson
Andrew S. Oldham
Patrick O'Malley
Yvette Ostolaza
Danielle Patterson
Ken Paxton
Brett Peace
Jesse Pence
Kevin Peter
David Rassin
Andino Reynal 
Tom Rhodus
Benjamin Roberts
Whit Roberts
Adolfo “JR” Rodriguez Jr.
Ladd Sanger
Stephen W. Sather
Jason Schumacher
Ryan Scofield
Cory Don Sepolio
Anthony Shoemaker
Mike Slack
Joshua Smeltzer
Carl E. Stewart
David Stone
Brianne M. Straka
Chris Strong
Michael Telle
Ashley Thurman
Mitch Tiras
Emily Tobolowsky
Mark Trachtenberg
John E. Tyrrell
Rob Walters
Charlene Wandrisco
Kristin Walker-Probst
Steve Walkowiak
Dan Wall
Johnny Ward
Bruce Wark
Erika Weinberg
Mark Werbner
Bob Wiegand
Don R. Willett
Taylor Williams
Tom Woolsey
Meng Xi
Debbie Yee
Paul Yetter

Firms in the News

Hover right to show full list

American Airlines
AT&T
Baker Botts
Beck Redden
Belmont Interests
The Castañeda Firm
Chesapeake Energy
Chevron Phillips Chemical
Compass Group Equity
Craftsman Capital
DLA Piper
Dykema
Enterprise Products
Figari & Davenport
Finesse
Gibson Dunn
Gray Reed
Greenberg Traurig
Harris County DA
Hartline Barger
Haynes and Boone
HTI
Hunton AK
Katten
Kelly Hart
Keurig Dr Pepper
Kirkland
KRCL
Kuvare
Latham
Locke Lord
Lone Star Bank
McGuireWoods
Molina Healthcare
Munsch Hardt
Next Bridge Hyrdrocarbons
Nokia
Ocwen Financial
O'Melveny
OpTic Gaming
PepsiCo
QatarEnergy
Quinn Emanuel
Race Rock
Roberts Law
Rodriguez Law Firm
Ryan Law Partners
Sabre
SAExploration
Sidley
Skyward Specialty
Slack Davis Sanger
SMB Law
Stewart Wiegand & Owens
Susman Godfrey
T-Mobile
Transocean
United Healthcare
V&E
Ward Smith & Hill
WildFire
Winston & Strawn
Womble
Worlds Enterprises
Yetter Coleman

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