‘You’ve given my life back’

Surgeon Nick Nicholson was one of 22 Forest Park Medical officials indicted in one of the largest and most complex healthcare bribery and kickback schemes in Texas history. But Dr. Nick was the only one a jury found not guilty. In an exclusive, in-depth interview, Nicholson and his lawyer, Tom Melsheimer, take readers inside the confidential sanctuary of the attorney-client relationship to discuss in vivid detail every aspect of the case and the decisions they made that led to the dramatic acquittal earlier this year. This is their story.

July 15, 2019 Bruce Tomaso

On the Record: Nick Nicholson and Tom Melsheimer

Melsheimer and his legal team worked more than 4,000 hours defending Forest Park Medical Center Surgeon Nick Nicholson against allegations of bribery and kickbacks. In a joint interview, the pair provide The Texas Lawbook insights into their relationship, how the use of mock juries helped them develop a successful legal strategy, the decision whether to quote from the King James Version or a modern Bible translation and their opinions of the prosecutors, judge and other defendants. Here they are in their own words.

July 15, 2019 Bruce Tomaso

Woodland Resources Ordered to Stop Selling Oil and Gas Investments

The Texas Securities Commission issued an emergency cease-and-desist order late Wednesday against a Fort Worth oil executive for allegedly providing misleading and incomplete information to potential investors about so-called “offset wells.”

July 11, 2019 Mark Curriden

Feds Reach Plea Deal with Final Forest Park Defendant

Carli Adele Hempel, the former director of bariatric services at Forest Park Medical Center, has agreed to plead guilty to a single misdemeanor charge of conspiracy to misapply property of a health care benefit program. Mark Curriden has the breaking details.

July 3, 2019 Mark Curriden

Fifth Circuit: Securities Offering Fraud Cases Require More SEC Fact-finding

When is an investor buying a security versus purchasing a partnership in a joint venture? It depends on some very specific but basic facts that usually are only available via a full trial, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

June 28, 2019 Mark Curriden

Lubbock Auto CFO Pleads Guilty on Fraud Scheme

The former CFO of Reagor Dykes Auto Group in Lubbock pleaded guilty Tuesday to masterminding a $50 million conspiracy that defrauded the company’s primary lender, Ford Motor Credit Co.

June 18, 2019 Mark Curriden

David Peavler: SEC – An Opportunity He Couldn’t Pass Up

HD Vest Financial GC David Peavler, a sleeper candidate to be the SEC's top corporate cop in Texas, tells The Texas Lawbook in an exclusive interview that tightened resources will be his biggest challenge when he starts as regional director in July. The objective, he said, is "to have as big an impact as possible with the resources we have.” Meanwhile, SEC insiders say Peavler is the perfect choice for the job.

June 7, 2019 Mark Curriden

SEC Names David Peavler as Fort Worth Regional Director

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has named its former associate director of enforcement, David Peavler, as the agency’s new regional director for its Fort Worth Regional Office.

June 6, 2019 Mark Curriden

SEC Names DFW’s Marshall Gandy Co-Head of Corporate Compliance Program

Gandy, associate regional director for examinations for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Fort Worth, will continue to lead examinations for the Fort Worth Regional Office.

June 4, 2019 Mark Curriden

Dangerous Lesson from Forest Park Trial Fallout: Defense Lawyers Proffer at their own Peril in the Northern District of Texas

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in North Texas is moving full steam ahead with a new proffer agreement policy effectively muzzling a defendant at trial. The new language binds both the defendant and her attorney and the Fifth Circuit seems poised to rule that proffer statements are admissible in the government’s case-in-chief. Only one strategy for defense attorneys is clear then – proffer at your peril.

May 28, 2019 Kelly R. Vickers, Mario H. Nguyen & Paul E. Coggins