Bruce graduated from Suffolk Law School in 1982. While attending Law School at night, he worked as a senior aide in the Massachusetts Senate. Upon graduation, he began a trial practice in Canton, Massachusetts, and moved his practice to Boston in 1985. He remained in Boston until 1997, at which time he decided to return to the suburbs due to his desire to create a suburban firm that would give his business and litigation clients the same quality of legal service that they could obtain in the city, at a more reasonable cost.