In March 2020, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker appointed Les Bovia as the third inspector general in the history of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. As inspector general of one of the state's largest and most high-profile agencies, Bovia leads investigations regarding child deaths and serious injuries, as well as misfeasance, malfeasance and other misconduct by DCFS personnel, foster parents and private agency employees and management.
Before joining DCFS, Bovia served the Illinois Human Rights Commission for over a decade in several roles, including administrative law judge, deputy general counsel, acting general counsel and ethics officer. Previously, for seven years, Bovia was a litigation associate with Winston & Strawn LLP, where he focused his practice on commercial litigation, white-collar criminal defense/corporate internal investigations, product liability/personal injury defense and pro bono criminal defense.
He has taught the Judicial Externships seminar at DePaul University College of Law since 2018.