Bitzer, John L.

E. Thomas Bishop was born in Louisville, Kentucky and obtained his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science from the University of Louisville in 1973. He graduated with highest honors and was named Outstanding Graduating Senior Man. Tom participated in intercollegiate football while at the University of Louisville and was named Outstanding Football Scholar during each of the years he attended that institution.

Tom attended Vanderbilt University Law School in Nashville, Tennessee where he obtained his law degree in 1976. While at Vanderbilt, Tom received awards for legal writing and achievement and was recognized by the Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity for outstanding service and scholarship.

Tom was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1976. He is licensed to practice before all Texas State and Federal Courts, as well as the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is a member of the American, Texas and Dallas Bar Associations, the Texas Association of Defense Counsel and the Defense Research Institute. Tom has served as a Director of the Texas Association of Defense Counsel for a decade, and is presently its President.

Tom has been engaged in private practice in Dallas since 1976, with emphasis upon the defense of personal injury litigation. Tom is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell, listed among Best's Directory of Recommended Insurance Attorneys, and certified as a continuing education provider by the Texas Department of Insurance. Tom is a member of the American, Texas, and Dallas Bar Associations, the Texas Association of Defense Counsel, the Defense Research Institute, and the College of the State Bar of Texas. He is President-Elect of the Texas Association of Defense Counsel and has served as a Director and Officer of the Association for the past decade. Tom is licensed to practice before the United States Supreme Court and in all Texas state and federal courts.

At the request of the president of the State Bar of Texas, Tom served as a co-author of Texas Pattern Jury Charges, Vol. II. He has also authored various other articles, including: "Experts: What Can Be Discovered, When and at Whose Expense?" 3 The Advocate 1, March 1984; "Various Defenses in Workers" Compensation Claims Litigation," Texas Workers' Compensation Practice, Professional Education Systems, Inc. 1987; "Defending Workers" Compensation Claims," Texas Workers" Compensation Practice, Professional Education Systems, Inc., 1988; and "Hello ERISA, Good-Bye Bad Faith: Federal Preemption of DTPA, Insurance Code and Common Law Bad Faith Claims," Baylor Law Review, Spring 1989; "ERISA: Effective Use to Avoid Extra-Contractual Damages," and ERISA, Bad Faith and AIDS," Defense Research Institute, April 1989; "Pre-Existing Condition or Subsequent Injury," 1 Texas Workers" Compensation Law, Section 12, Matthew Bender, 1990. Tom has presented papers to the State Bar of Texas, the Texas Association of Independent Insurance Adjusters and the Texas Association of Defense Counsel. He has also authored portions of Matthew Bender's multi-volume treatise on workers' compensation law in the State of Texas. Tom also served on the Texas Advisory Board for Butterworth Legal Publishers.

Tom has spoken before a wide variety of professional groups on topics ranging from product liability law to tort and workers' compensation reform. He has defended public officials and governmental entities in a wide variety of litigation ranging from civil rights violations and defamation to discrimination and premises claims. He served as an arbitrator of fee disputes for the Dallas Bar Association for several years. Tom has testified as an expert before the State Board of Insurance, select committees of the Texas House and Senate, and before Texas state and federal courts and juries on topics ranging from insurance law and reform to professional liability.