The lawyer, 47-year-old Michael Edward Schmidt, reportedly told an employee at the Glass House by Windsor luxury complex that his condo was being burglarized around 2 a.m. on Thursday.
That worker called the cops, and Schmidt then barricaded himself in a hallway near the lobby of the complex while wearing only his boxer shorts.
Witnesses said that Schmidt then fired shots at the officers, NBCDFW reports. The officers began shooting once he started moving toward them, Fox reported.
"At some point, the individual moved from his barricaded position towards the officers," Deputy Chief Gil Garza with the Dallas Police Department told Fox. "It was then the officers returned fire striking him. He was pronounced deceased at the scene."
Schmidt - who had recently been through a divorce - had an 11-year-old daughter who was in his condo and wasn't harmed. Unnamed sources told Fox that Schmidt had been taking prescription drugs which his family believes may have made him "snap."
The officers involved in the shootout have been put on leave during an investigation.
The TV station pointed out that Schmidt made headlines last year when he won a $10.5 million judgement for the family of a woman who had been run over by a monster truck at a Dallas strip club.
Schmidt has both a