David Szuchman, an experienced attorney who has successfully prosecuted criminal and white collar cases on both the state and federal level, became Director of the 600-employee New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs in June, 2008.

Consumer Affairs enforces laws and regulations designed to protect New Jersey's residents in the marketplace. The areas within the jurisdiction of Consumer Affairs include the purchase, lease and repair of automobiles, identity theft, telemarketing scams and home improvement repairs and renovations. Consumer Affairs also licenses and oversees more than 500,000 professionals working in 80 fields that range from physicians to plumbers.

Szuchman, 36, has been an assistant attorney general in the New York Attorney General's Office, a trial attorney in the criminal division of the U.S. Justice Department, and an assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. His work includes investigating and prosecuting bid-rigging, money laundering, identity theft and mortgage fraud cases.

Szuchman graduated from the University of Vermont in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in political science, and received a law degree in 1997 from Hofstra University School of Law in Hempstead, Long Island. He is married and has two young sons.