The DOJ Indictments and Expanding Investigation into Wayne County Probate Court

Recently, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it had indicted four individuals, including two probate attorneys, for allegedly embezzeling hundreds of thousands of dollars from individuals under the Wayne County Probate Court’s protection. The charges include fraud and money laundering related to a scheme whereby the defendants enriched themselves with the property belonging to the estates of the deceased and with the property of protected individuals under the supervision of the Wayne County Probate Court. The federal corruption probe is reportedly expanding as the investigation continues.

$265,000 Almost Drained From a Single Estate

The BriggsColegrove law firm billed $265,000 to a single estate while engaging the judge who was approving their fees without a required hearing in prohibited ex parte communications. Attorney Sarah W. Colegrove testified that updating a judge about a case, off the record and outside the presence of all parties, is: “how I communicate with the judge” - even when she has hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney fee petitions pending the judge’s approval. But even a non-attorney knows that ex parte communications with a judge about the status of a case are prohibited. Colegrove’s partner, Todd E. Briggs, who notorized Colegrove’s fee petitions, is now a sitting Wayne County probate judge. The BriggsColegrove PC fees were being approved by the judge without any scrutiny, despite serious questions about whether the work alleged to have been performed benefited the estate and justified such extraordinary compensation. This pattern of misconduct is exactly what Susan Hubbard is running to end.

This is not an anomaly. It is the system working exactly as it was designed — for the benefit of insiders, not the families it is supposed to protect.

How Excessive Fees Go Unchallenged

Wayne County Probate Court routinely approves attorney fees while having engaged those attorneys in ex parte communications according to Colegrove’s high-school friend and well-connected Wayne County probate attorney John Chase III, who admitted Colegrove hired him with estate funds. As a court-appointed attorney, he testified that he does “whatever the court’s desire is” and that ex parte communications with the judge about “what the judge wants” is routine. The process typically works like this:

  1. A court-appointed attorney files a fee petition — often with vague descriptions of services rendered. The judge who appointed that attorney then appoints another attorney as the “GAL” to review the other attorney’s fees. The attorney-GAL then recommends approving the attorney’s fees in a report to the judge who appointed him.
  2. The petition is approved without a hearing — denying families the ability to cross-examine how the attorney’s fees benefited the estate as the law requires.
  3. Estate funds are depleted — fees are “routinely” approved resulting in the depletion of estate assets.
  4. Challenging the fees costs even more — families who object to the attorneys’ fees are then often required to hire attorneys and spend additional money to fight back.

The Human Cost

Behind every excessive fee petition is a family dealing with stress and grief. When court-appointed attorneys drain estates through inflated billing:

  • Inheritances are depleted — money that deceased loved ones intended for their families goes instead to attorneys with no connection to the deceased.
  • Vulnerable people suffer — in guardianship and conservatorship cases, excessive fees can reduce the resources available for the care of individuals who are supposed to be protected by the court.
  • Trust in the system erodes — families who witness these practices lose faith in the courts who are suppose to protect them.

What Reform Looks Like

As Probate Court Judge, Susan Hubbard will:

  • End prohibited ex parte conduct - no more one-sided, off-the-record, private contacts with the judge who appoints an attorney as a fiduciary.
  • Only appoint a GAL or attorney when legally required — Sparing families from unnecessary fees.
  • Require detailed fee documentation — no more vague billing descriptions or lump-sum approvals.
  • Hold mandatory hearings - on fee petitions as Michigan law requires, giving families notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard and to cross-examine those seeking fees from their loved one’s estate.
  • Establish fee guidelines - that set reasonable expectations for attorney compensation relative to the size and complexity of the estate.
  • Refer patterns of excessive billing - to the appropriate authorities for investigation.

No family should lose tens of thousands of dollars because the court failed to do its job.

Learn more about the BriggsColegrove PC case and support the campaign.