MONROE — A lawyer who works as an independent contractor for the county has caused alarm among the Monroe County Board of Commissioners for sending invoices for hundreds of thousands of dollars for hours that many on the board doubt are realistic.

Ronald Bruce, an indigent defense attorney who works for the county on a case-by-case basis and owner of Bruce Law Firm in Monroe, has invoiced Monroe County for $596,031.40 since 2023 and has routinely billed the county for more than 23 hours of work on cases, according to an independent audit that was conducted by Rehmann, a finance accounting firm based in Detroit.

An indigent attorney is a court-appointed lawyer offered to defendants that can’t afford a lawyer. 

The audit, which included other lawyers hired by the county, analyzed invoices from Mr. Bruce from Jan. 2, 2023, to Nov. 22, 2024.

During the time frame of the report, Mr. Bruce bill for more than $100,000 more than any other lawyers in the report and doubled the rest. 

“It doesn’t seem quite right,” Commissioner and Chairman of the Monroe County Board of Commissioners Dave Vensel said of the hours billed.

“It seemed very large,” Commissioner Jay Heinzerling said of the invoices. “I’m not a big numbers guy. I’m not a lawyer. ...  They just seem like very large numbers.”

Per the audit, there were 16 days in which Mr. Bruce billed the county for 20 hours or more, 66 other days where he billed for 16 hours or more, and 129 additional days where he billed 12 hours or more.

This totals 211 days where billings exceeded greater than 12 hours in any given day, the report read.

“While I would agree that working more than 12 hours a day isn’t unusual for an attorney, I would say that unless the county is his only client, this appears very high in general,” Daniel Clark, a principal accountant at Rehmann, said in the report. “I would also state the hours in the excess of 16 in any given day and especially those days over 20 hours seem potentially problematic and would recommend the county review these days specifically.”

Mr. Bruce did not respond to several requests for comment. 

Commissioner Henry Lievens, who’s a lawyer himself and suggested the independent audit, said when he first expressed his concerns to the commissioners and administrative staff, he was told “dismissvely” that Mr. Bruce was catching up from the previous month.

Mr. Lievens said he raised concerns about the invoices in January, 2024, after he saw monthly invoices for Mr. Bruce between $20,000 and $30,000.

Those monthly invoices then increased to $50,000, he said.

During the summer of 2024, Mr. Lievens said, Mr. Bruce billed the county $87,000 for one month.

Mr. Lievens said a lawyer’s hourly rate depends on the type of case and ranges from $135 to $200 an hour. 

Mr. Lievens said he believes Mr. Bruce’s invoices could reflect a larger problem with how the county pays its attorneys.

He said lawyers often operate on an “honor system” when billing the county. 

“Right now, the system is, ‘Hey, we think you’re doing a good job, and we’re trusting the hours that you’re submitting. Here, let’s give you a payment of taxpayer dollars,’” Mr. Lievens said.

A payment for Mr. Bruce was paused at a regular commissioner’s meeting on Jan. 23, and future appointments for Mr. Bruce have been put on hold until the issue is resolved, the commissioners said, but Mr. Lievens is frustrated it took as long as it has for action to be taken.

“Some action is being taken, but why did it take a year?” Mr. Lievens said.

Commissioner David Hoffman said he believes “nobody was listening” when concerns were first raised about the invoices by Mr. Bruce. 

“We have other legal attorneys doing the exact same thing he is, but their fees are within line of where they should be,” Mr. Hoffman said. “We’ve got to dig in here and see how we can justify this kind of money.”

Mr. Vensel said an internal audit has also been launched by the county for all of Monroe County’s indigent defense attorneys that “seem like they’re a little out of the ordinary.”

“We’re the fiduciary of the taxpayer dollars,” Mr. Lievens said. “I don’t give a [crap] if it’s local, state, or federal dollars, it’s our job ... to take care of all the tax dollars.”

First Published February 17, 2025, 10:59 p.m.