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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.

SCOTX Election Overview: Incumbency Has its Privileges

The four races in the Supreme Court of Texas bring notable aspects from both groups of candidates. The incumbents have the advantage of much more campaign finance support from the legal community. The incumbents' opponents - all women - comprise the most diverse slate of challenger candidates the court has seen.

October 21, 2020 Bruce Tomaso

Fifth District COA Candidates Make Their Case in Refreshingly Civil Virtual Forum

The Democratic and Republican candidates for three seats on the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas did something Thursday evening that, in 2020, could strike many voters as odd. They engaged in a cordial, thoughtful, informative discussion of their qualifications to the bench, their legal experience and their judicial philosophies. Bruce Tomaso details what was said at the forum, which was moderated by The Texas Lawbook.

October 16, 2020 Bruce Tomaso

Dallas COA Races Test the Strength of Incumbent Republicans

The power of incumbency, normally a potent advantage at the ballot box, may prove to be of diminished relevance in this year’s three races for seats on the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas. This article explains the dynamics and background of the three races in Dallas' Fifth Court of Appeals.

October 8, 2020 Bruce Tomaso

Pharma Marketer Indicted in $60M Kickback Scheme

Vinson Woodlee, 68 was charged in the Northern District of Texas with four counts under the federal anti-kickback statute. If convicted on all counts, he could be sentenced to 35 years inprison.

August 20, 2020 Bruce Tomaso

Doctor Sentenced to 66 Months in Forest Park Med Center Fraud

Richard Toussaint, a co-founder of Forest Park Medical Center, is already serving time in federal prison for a different fraud. Bruce Tomaso reports.

August 10, 2020 Bruce Tomaso

[Updated] SCOTX Justice Paul Green Retires: ‘It Just Seemed Like the Right Time’

Justice Paul Green, the second-longest sitting justice on the Supreme Court of Texas, announced Tuesday that he is retiring at the end of August. A third-generation lawyer, Justice Green has been a reliably conservative vote on a state supreme court loaded with conservatives. Justice Green was re-elected in 2016 and his term officially ends in December 2022. Gov. Greg Abbott will appoint his successor.

July 21, 2020 Bruce Tomaso

Judge Denies Forest Park Defendants Requests for New Trial

U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary ruled Monday that requests by Forest Park Medical Center doctors and officials for a new trial are "meritless." The seven defendants were convicted last year of taking part in a massive insurance fraud scheme. The judge also criticized trial tactics employed by one of the prominent lawyers during the trial as "dirty and nasty" and a "cheap stunt." The Texas Lawbook has complete details.

March 24, 2020 Bruce Tomaso

Forest Park Bookkeeper Sentenced to Probation

Andrea Kay Smith, who kept the books for the bribes paid to surgeons at the now defunct Forest Park Medical Center, was sentenced Wednesday in a Dallas federal court. Smith testified about the scheme as part of a plea bargain with federal prosecutors. The Lawbook's Bruce Tomaso reports.

December 4, 2019 Bruce Tomaso

Convicted Forest Park Doctors Suspended by State

Four physicians convicted earlier this year in the Forest Park Medical Center bribery and kickback trial have been suspended by the Texas Medical Board. The suspensions are not final, but they are mandatory while the convictions are being appealed. Bruce Tomaso has the details.

September 13, 2019 Bruce Tomaso

Feds Seek More Than $17M in Forfeitures from Forest Park Defendants

The U.S. government is seeking more than $17 million in forfeitures from the seven defendants found guilty in April in the Forest Park medical fraud trial. Defrauded insurance companies could be demanding more. Bruce Tomaso has the latest in the Forest Park MC kickbacks case.

August 26, 2019 Bruce Tomaso

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Primary Sidebar

Features

  • My Five Favorite Books: Melanie Koltermann (General Counsel at Five Star Management) - My reading habits have changed dramatically over the years. Where I once lingered over actual hard copy books late at night, these days I “read” mostly on the move. I now listen to my books, filling the hours I spend driving to/from work and after dropping of the kids for their many events. What might once have felt like idle time has become some of my most rewarding reading time, and I’ve grown to love how stories accompany me in the car. Much like my taste in music, my reading choices are eclectic and all over the place. I rarely stick to one genre or style, preferring instead to explore whatever captures my curiosity at the moment. September 17, 2025Melanie Koltermann
  • P.S. — House Moves to Slash Legal Aid Funding as Senate Proposes Increase, SALSA Makes Plea for Giving, Texas Tech Tops ABA Competition and More - In this week’s P.S. Column, we cover the House Appropriations Committee’s vote to cut Legal Services Corporation funding by 46 percent, a move that could leave millions without access to legal aid. Meanwhile, the San Antonio Legal Services Association makes a plea for donations to support core operations. September 12, 2025Krista Torralva

GCs, Lawyers & Firms

  • SALSA Names New Executive Director - The San Antonio Legal Services Association announced it has hired nonprofit executive and fundraising strategist James Martinez to lead the organization as executive director. After experiencing a funding shortfall earlier this year, SALSA touted Martinez’s more than two decades of experience fundraising and leading nonprofit organizations.
  • Ross & Smith Announces Partnership with Full-Service Maryland Firm
  • Martin Sosland, Candice Carson Join Vartabedian Hester
  • Banks Brings Decades of Experience to Husch Blackwell’s New Biz Dev Leadership Role
  • Former Energy GC Brock Degeyter Joins Troutman Pepper Locke in Dallas
  • Houston Law Firm Adds Former Texas Supreme Court Justice to Name 
  • Hunton AK Adds New Leader of Appellate Practice
  • Dallas PE Partner Boomerangs Back to Weil
  • Ret. Judge Barbara Lynn Joins Lynn Pinker
  • Holland & Knight Hires Another Longtime King & Spalding Healthcare Veteran
More GCs, Lawyers & Firms

Lawyers in the News

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Barry Barnett
Wes Bearden
Emily Westridge Black
Michael Burke
Alicia Campbell
John Campbell
Madeleine Carpenter
Alexander Clark
Dawn Pittman Collins
Richard Finneran
Elizabeth Freeman
David Gail
Elizabeth Gibson
David Jones
Frank Lopez
Abbe Lowell
Neal Manne
Billy Marsh
Tom Melsheimer
Tasha Moser
Justin Nelson
Reed O'Connor
Kate Pennartz
John “J.” Pieratt
Danielle Reyes
Christopher Richardson
Randy Sorrels
Harry Susman
Larry Vincent
Victor Vital
Brent Walker
Matt Weybrecht
Melody Wilkinson
Alex Wolens

Firms in the News

Hover right to show full list

A&O Shearman
Bryan Cave
Cozen O'Connor
Haynes Boone
Holland & Knight
Jackson Walker
King & Spalding
Kirkland & Ellis
Law Office of Liz Freeman
Paul Hastings
Porter Hedges
Sorrels Law
Susman Godfrey
Toyota
Troutman Pepper Locke
Willkie
Vinson & Elkins
Weil
Winston & Strawn

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