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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.

‘Skiplagging’ Hurts American Airlines and Its Customers, Witnesses Say

The testimony came on the second day of AA’s suit against an online site that promotes cheaper flights to users who book ‘hidden city’ tickets to destinations other than those at which they truly intend to arrive.

October 8, 2024 Bruce Tomaso

Skiplagged CEO Acknowledges Using American Airlines Trademarks Without Permission to Market Tickets

The testimony by Aktarer Zaman came on the first day of AA’s trademark-violation suit against Zaman’s company, which promotes the practice of booking “hidden city” flights that are contrary to the airline’s terms and conditions.

October 7, 2024 Bruce Tomaso

Trial in American Airlines’ Suit Against Company Promoting ‘Hidden City’ Fares Begins Monday

The carrier says the practice known as ‘skiplagging’ — booking a flight with a layover, then abandoning the second leg of the flight — violates airline policies and leaves travelers at risk of having their tickets declared invalid.

October 4, 2024 Bruce Tomaso

Fired Police Captain Gets $21.35M in Wrongful Termination Trial

A federal jury in Sherman on Thursday awarded $21.35 million in damages to a former Quitman police captain who was fired then arrested for signing an affidavit in 2017 saying he didn't think a friend could get a fair trial in Wood County because of an improperly close relationship between the county sheriff, the district attorney and the state district judge assigned to Wood County.

September 19, 2024 Bruce Tomaso

‘How Could This Possibly Happen in the United States?’ Lawyer for Fired Quitman Police Captain Asks 

In closing arguments, Laura Benitez Geisler of Dallas, the lawyer for Terry Bevill, tells a federal jury he deserves at least $33 million because he was wrongfully fired and arrested for exercising his First Amendment right to free speech. The jury enters its second day of deliberations Thursday morning.

September 18, 2024 Bruce Tomaso

Fired Quitman Police Captain’s Suit Headed to Jury  

After six days of testimony, closing arguments in Terry Bevill’s wrongful-termination lawsuit are scheduled for Wednesday morning before U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant III of Sherman.

September 18, 2024 Bruce Tomaso

Ex-Judge Says He Ordered Quitman Police Captain’s Arrest Over ‘Total Pile of Crap’ Affidavit

Jeff Fletcher, Wood County’s former state district judge, joins fellow defendants in Terry Bevill’s wrongful-termination suit in denying there was any conspiracy to punish Bevill for saying in 2017 that a friend couldn’t get a fair trial in the East Texas county.

September 17, 2024 Bruce Tomaso

Jury Could Begin Deliberations in Fired Police Captain’s Case as Early as Midweek

Fired Quitman police captain Terry Bevill’s wrongful-termination case in Sherman could go to a federal jury as soon as midweek.

At the conclusion of Friday’s court session before U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant III, Bevill’s lawyers said they have two witnesses yet to call, and will probably rest on Tuesday.

September 16, 2024 Bruce Tomaso

Two Defendants Deny Plot to Fire Quitman Police Captain

The other two defendants in Terry Bevill’s wrongful-termination suit are listed as potential witnesses in the ongoing jury trial before U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant III in Sherman.

September 12, 2024 Bruce Tomaso

Quitman Police Captain Didn’t Deserve to be Fired, His Former Chief Testifies

Had it been up to him, Ex-Chief Kelly Cole said, his second-in-command “probably would have gotten couple of days off” for violating policy by signing an affidavit stating that he didn’t think his friend could get a fair trial in Wood County.

September 11, 2024 Bruce Tomaso

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Primary Sidebar

Features

  • The 1915 Letter to the Editor Championed Women Serving on Juries - When I was a teenager, my grandmother told me that her grandmother, “Nana,” marched for women’s suffrage.

    What impressed my grandmother was not just that Nana walked the streets with throngs of other women clamoring for voting rights; it was that she did so despite being a woman who personally had little to gain from equal suffrage.

    Nana was a married, middle-aged mother who, as my grandmother put it, “wore black chiffon at night.” In other words, she was a woman of means. As such, Nana benefited from the status quo. Practically speaking, she had reason to resist change. Still, she believed women should have the right to vote. So, she marched.

    She also wrote.
    December 3, 2025Kelly Rentzel
  • Texas GC Forum Awards 20th Annual Magna Stella Honors - The Texas General Counsel Forum recently honored 10 chief legal officers and senior in-house counsel with the 20th annual Magna Stella Awards, which recognizes success and leadership. 

    The awards ceremony, held Nov. 20 at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort in San Antonio, unveiled the lifetime achievement award in honor of GC Forum CEO Lynn Bozalis, a beloved leader in the Texas corporate law community.
    November 28, 2025Mark Curriden

GCs, Lawyers & Firms

  • Holland & Knight Recruits Texas A&M GC Ray Bonilla - As the general counsel and chief legal officer of the Texas A&M University System, Bonilla oversaw legal matters for eleven universities. He will focus his practice on representing educational institutions.
  • VC Advisor Carmelo Gordian Departs A&O Shearman for Holland & Knight
  • Mike Androvett Joins Texas Lawbook Foundation Board
  • Paul Hastings Add Two Litigators from Winston & Strawn 
  • Brink’s Adds Maria Fernandez as Associate General Counsel
  • Sheppard Mullin Grows Corporate Capabilities in Dallas
  • Austin Emerging Growth/Venture Capital Partner Michelle Kwan Jumps to Jackson Walker
  • Haynes Boone Adds Six Lawyers in Dallas
  • Samsung Recruits Dallas Litigation Partner Paulette Miniter In-House
  • Carrington Coleman Strengthens Dallas Office with Transactional Trio
More GCs, Lawyers & Firms

Lawyers in the News

Hover right to see full list

Chip Babcock
Chris Bankler
Jamie B. Beaber
David J. Beck
Bill Benitez
Jessica Berkowitz
Brent Bernell
Tyler Bexley
Shawn Blackburn
Michael Blankenship
Jeffrey Brill
Anita Brown
Ian Brown
Stuart Campbell
Jack Chadderdon
Paul Clement
Erin Nealy Cox
Scott Craig
Kevin Crews
Shamus Crosby
Hannah M. Crowe
Geoffrey Culbertson
Sean Cunningham
John Daywalt
Rajiv Dharnidharka
James Ducayet
Brian K. Erickson
Scott Everett
Weiru Fang
Elizabeth Freeman
Tad Freese
Melanie Fry
Geoff Gannaway
Paul Genender
John J. Gilluly III
Rodney Gilstrap
Andrew Gorham
John Greer
Joseph Grinstein
Matthew Haddad
Colleen Haile
Breen Haire
Shahmeer Halepota
Dionne Hamilton
Troy Harder
Rusty Hardin
Michael Hawes
Nathan Hecht
Stephen Hessler
Hillary Holmes
Marc Jaffe
Lauren Jenkins
David Jones
Atma Kabad
Susan Kennedy
David Kinder
Justin King
Allan Kirk
Melanie Koltermann
Doug Kubehl
Joe Laurel
Sang Lee
Steven Lockhart
Arthur Lotz
Barbara Lynn
Mike Lynn
Nora McGuffey
Stephanie McPhail
Mark Melton
Jeri Leigh Miller
Kimberly A. Moore
Mark Moore
Shelby Morgan
Alia Moses
Davis Mosmeyer III
Darren Nicholson
Eamon Nolan
Ivy Nowinski
Holland O’Neil
George Padis
Ian Peck
Jonathan Platt
Chase Proctor
Doug Rayburn
Joel Reese
Kevin Richardson
Andrew Rodheim
Seth Rubinson
Mazin Sbaiti
Ana Sanchez
Vincenzo Santini
Jeffrey Scharfstein
Robert Schroeder III
Scott Seidel
Steven Sexton
Ahmed Sidik
Robert Slovak
Emily Smith
Melissa R. Smith
Jonathon Soler
Robert Soza
Lande Spottswood
Craig Stanfield
Justin Stolte
Josh Teahen
Kelly Tidwell
Linda Tieh
Rafael B. de Toledo
Monica Uddin
Rhett Van Syoc
Rahul Vashi
Gabe Vazquez
Patrick Venter
Sarah Walden
Kandace Walter
Kyle Watson
Mikell Alan West
Noël Wise
Meng Xi

Firms in the News

Hover right to show full list

AZA
Baker Botts
The Bandas Law Firm
Beck Redden
Boies Schiller Flexner
Bracewell
Bradley Arant
Burns Charest
Clement & Murphy
Condon & Forsyth
DLA Piper
Dykema
Foley & Lardner
Gibson Dunn
Gillam & Smith
Haynes Boone
Holland & Knight
Jackson Walker
King & Spalding
Kirkland & Ellis
Latham & Watkins
Lynn Pinker
Mayer Brown
MoloLamken
Pamela Welch PLLC
Patton Tidwell Culbertson
Paul Hastings
Porter Hedges
The Probus Law Firm
Reese Marketos
Rusty Hardin & Associates
Sbaiti & Company
Sidley Austin
Simpson Thacher
Skadden
Squire Patton Boggs
Sullivan & Cromwell
Susman Godfrey
Troutman Pepper Locke
Vinson & Elkins
Weil
Willkie
Winston & Strawn

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