Bruce Locher graduated from Lake Forest College in 1963.  He enrolled in Loyola University's College of Law and graduated in 1966.  Upon graduation, he accepted a Ford Foundation Grant to work with the Illinois legislature as an intern on the staff of the President Pro Tem of the Senate.  After completion of that internship, Bruce was appointed Executive Director of the Illinois Commission for Economic Development.  Two years later, he resigned from the commission and accepted a position as an Assistant State's Attorney in Sangamon County.  Beginning as most assistants do in the traffic and misdemeanor division, Bruce soon rose to the position of Chief of the Felony division.  When the incumbent State's Attorney decided not to run for re-election, Bruce moved to Peoria County as the First Assistant State's Attorney under newly-elected State's Attorney Michael Mihm.  In 1974, James Zagel, Chief of the Illinois Attorney General's prosecution unit asked Bruce to take the position of Chief of the Prosecution Unit for counties south of Interstate 80.  Bruce accepted the offer and served in that office almost two years where he personally prosecuted homicides and white collar crimes in the southeastern part of the state.

He has been active in the Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA) for many years,  serving on the Criminal Justice and Traffic Laws and Courts Section Councils among others and as an  elected member of the ISBA's Assembly and Board of Governors. Bruce has lectured at ISBA sponsored seminars in the areas of Criminal Discover, Ethics, and DUI. He  is also an active member of the American Bar Association and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He holds strongly to the belief that thorough research and well-prepared and argued pretrial motions can be the keys that unlock a successful defense for many criminal cases.