Comptroller Mendoza Hires Debjani Desai as General Counsel

The Illinois Office of Comptroller has named Debjani Desai as its general counsel to serve as the office’s main attorney and advise the comptroller on matters affecting the office. 

Desai served as assistant general counsel in the Litigation and Eligibility group for the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, where she managed state and federal litigation and provided counsel to staff throughout Illinois. 

Prior to that, she was an administrative law judge for the agency, presiding over medical vendor appeals and fair hearings.  

Before joining DHFS, Desai was an assistant state’s attorney for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in the Special Prosecutions Bureau’s Financial Crimes and Public Corruption Unit. 

Desai earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois Chicago’s John Marshall Law School and a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance from Loyola University of New Orleans. She replaces John Gay, who left the Comptroller’s office to become general counsel of the Illinois Racing Board.