Bruce is a former federal and state prosecutor who has practiced criminal law for over 40 years. He has tried virtually every type of criminal case, from securities fraud to murder, and has represented individuals ranging from celebrities to indigent clients while serving as a member of the Criminal Justice Act Panel for the Southern District of New York. As a result of his professional accomplishments, Bruce was inducted in 2009 as a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and served a two-year term as chair of its Downstate New York Committee. He recently appeared as one of four moderators of a week-long conference in Malta on counterterrorism, sponsored by the International Institute of Justice and the Rule of Law.
Bruce routinely conducts high-profile internal investigations on a range of issues for labor unions and businesses, including allegations of corruption and sexual and racial discrimination. Recent engagements include investigations involving the executive director of the National Hockey League Players’ Association, the internationally renowned opera singer, Placido Domingo, and a nationally recognized cancer treatment institute. In addition, he served for 10 years as the Ethical Practices Officer for AFSCME District Council 37, New York City’s largest municipal union, where he was responsible for investigating allegations of financial corruption and other forms of impropriety among that union’s 120,000 members and officers.
Before entering private practice, Bruce was a prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Strike Force for the Eastern District of New York. There, he was responsible for bringing several historic RICO prosecutions, including the indictment of the hierarchy of a Long Island-based Laborers Union and the first major prosecution of the savings and loan crisis of the 1980's, a case that dramatically expanded the scope of liability for union pension fund advisers. Bruce testified in the case before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee about the challenges involved in investigating complex financial crime cases.
In addition to his fellowship in the American College of Trial Lawyers, Bruce consistently has been selected as a Super Lawyer and Best Lawyer in his practice area. He is admitted to practice law in the states of New York and New Hampshire, as well as the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the Districts of Connecticut and New Hampshire, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.