1TOMS RIVER, NJ – A disbarred attorney from Utah has been charged with theft by deception and unauthorized practice of law after allegedly posing as a licensed attorney and collecting thousands of dollars from a client in Ocean County, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office .

Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer announced that 54-year-old David T. Schlendorf , of Holladay, Utah, was arrested Tuesday following an investigation by the prosecutor’s Economic Crime Squad and the Toms River Township Police Department Detective Bureau .

Authorities said that in March 2025, a Toms River resident hired Schlendorf to represent him in a legal matter and paid him approximately $10,000 in fees — unaware that Schlendorf had been disbarred in New Jersey in December 2022 .

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