June 16: President Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated Arizona attorney Roopali Desai, who was on the front lines of several high-profile election challenges in Arizona, to fill a vacancy on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“Desai has represented Democrats and the Democratic Party in a host of high-profile issues in Arizona and served as legal counsel and campaign attorney for U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who advocated for her nomination.

“I have known Roopali for over 10 years. In that time, I have seen her deep respect and understanding of the law up close. She is a trusted legal expert highly regarded across the political spectrum in Arizona, known for her integrity and fairness,” Sinema said Wednesday in a statement to The Arizona Republic.”: azcentral

Desai is a partner at the law firm Coppersmith Brockelman. Before that she was at Lewis & Roca and also had served as a law clerk for former 9th Circuit Chief Judge Mary Schroeder, from 2005-2006.

Desai is a 1996 graduate of Barry Goldwater High School in north Phoenix and earned a bachelor’s, master’s and law degree from University of Arizona. She has three young daughters, reported the Arizona Republic.

Desai’s nomination comes on the heels of another high profile Indian American attorney nominated by the Biden administration. Last week, Sopen B. Shah was nominated as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin.

Shah is Counsel at Perkins Coie LLP where she has practiced since 2019. She was previously a Deputy Solicitor General of Wisconsin from 2017 to 2019. She received her J.D. from Yale Law School in 2015 and A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 2008.