Foley Rejects Claim Former Leader Had Role in Firing Arab Lawyer

Foley & Lardner rejected a former summer associate’s claim that the firm’s late chair was instrumental in her dismissal.

The claim “has no basis in fact and is borne of unsupported allegations and gross mischaracterizations of the record,” the firm said in a court filing Wednesday.

Foley & Lardner revoked a job offer in October 2023 over comments the former summer associate, Jinan Chehade, made about the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which has sparked ongoing nationwide campus protests. The firm’s current CEO, Daljit Doogal, made the decision to rescind the offer, the firm said in its filing.

Chehade had claimed that the firm’s former managing partner, Stan Jaspan, whom she identified as having ties to Israel, “admitted that he—not CEO Doogal—made the decision to revoke” her offer, despite being told that she “had unequivocally condemned the Hamas attacks.” Jaspan died unexpectedly in July 2024 and was never deposed.

Foley & Lardner asked a federal judge to dismiss Chehade’s claims that she faced discrimination because of her Arab Muslim background. “Plaintiff’s offer was rescinded not because of her religion or ethnicity, but because of her public statements about the October 7 attacks, her obstinance when asked about them, and her overall lack of judgment in making the statements in the first instance and in her handling of the entire situation,” the firm said.

Doogal made the decision to rescind Chehade’s offer based on employees’ reporting that during a meeting with her she doubled down on the fact that “she believed it was appropriate to condone the actions of Hamas on October 7th as a means to an end,” the law firm said in its filing.

The firm also said that Jaspan’s view in the record was that a “pro-Palestinian stance itself is not a problem in my mind (at least as to her employment by the firm),” and that more information was needed to assess the nature of Chehade’s statements.

Lawyers at Seyfarth Shaw, which is defending the firm, said Chehade’s comparison to others at the firm who had made controversial social media posts and are still working there was unsuitable because they are partners and not at-will employees.

Chehade filed her lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois in May 2024. She is represented by Paul Vickrey of Vitale, Vickrey, Niro, Solon & Gasey.

The case is Chehade v Foley , C.C.N.D. Ill., 1:24-cv 04414, 5/7/25.