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NILES — Van Buren County District Judge Michael McKay ruled Thursday that local attorney Lanny Fisher must face trial on several felony and misdemeanor charges for allegedly forcing clients to have sexual relations with him in exchange for his representation.

Fisher, 54, is accused in incidents dating back 10 to 12 years that occurred at his Buchanan law office, his Buchanan area home and a Benton Township hotel. He was arrested and arraigned last April after police began interviewing women in the fall of 2022 about his alleged actions.

Fisher faces a total of 16 felony and misdemeanor charges: one count of CSC first degree in the commission of a felony (kidnapping), one count of kidnapping, nine counts of CSC third degree, one count of CSC fourth degree and four counts of prostitution.

The maximum penalty for the first degree CSC and kidnapping counts is life or any term of years in prison. The maximum penalty for the third degree CSC counts is 15 years in prison. The maximum penalty for the fourth degree CSC counts is two years in prison. The maximum penalty for the prostitution charges is 93 days in jail.

McKay was assigned to the case after all Berrien County judges recused themselves. No new court dates have been set yet as it is unclear who will preside over the rest of the case now as it is at the Circuit Court level. Fisher through his attorney, Josh Blanchard, did plead not guilty in lieu of a formal circuit court arraignment.

Judge McKay presided over two days of hearings last fall that saw testimony from a number of women who said that Fisher forced or coerced them to have sexual relations with him in exchange for his representation of them on criminal matters. Attorneys were then given the chance to submit briefs in advance of Thursday’s ruling.

Fisher has been free on $150,000 cash or surety bond since then but was taken into custody Thursday on a bond violation in order to be fitted with a tether monitoring device. It is alleged that police stopped Fisher out after curfew at some point since last fall. His curfew is 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.

Judge McKay’s bind over decision came after both County Prosecutor Steve Pierangeli and defense attorney Josh Blanchard made oral arguments on their respective positions. Fisher faces charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, third-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping and prostitution.

Pierangeli spoke about the definitions of force and coercion and cited the alleged victims’ testimony. He said they felt they had no choice but to go along with Fisher’s requests to engage in sexual conduct out of their fear of going to jail.

“In the narrative the defendant set up, he says he knows a lot of people, he knows judges, attorneys, police and even criminals, he has a lot of pull and can keep the woman out of jail,” Pierangeli said. “He says a court appointed attorney wouldn’t cut it … the victim felt she had no choice but to comply.”

Blanchard also addressed the force and coercion issue and argued that Fisher didn’t force the women to engage in sexual relations with him. He noted that the law addresses certain relationships such as those between a prison guard and an inmate, a doctor and a patient and a teacher and a student, but not a lawyer and a client.

He also pointed to what he called very serious credibility issues with  number of the victims who include one woman who allegedly made a false accusation of rape against another man and two women who ended up in prison. He said that at least one of the women went back to Fisher for representation after the alleged incident.

In giving his bind over ruling, Judge McKay said that the women testifying against Fisher did not know each other and all spoke about engaging in sexual acts with him in exchange for his representation. He said the women either initially told Fisher no or were afraid to say no.

He likened the women who went back to Fisher to represent them to women suffering from battered wife syndrome or who don’t report rape. “Here, he demonstrated such power and dominance with the assaults that they felt powerless,” the judge said. “… One woman said ‘when you are fearful, you do what you’re told.”

“There were similar themes, the women were inexperienced with the court system, they were afraid of going to jail and they didn’t have the money to pay him,” Judge McKay said. “They thought he was larger than the court system and he was well known. They felt he held their fate in his hands.”