By Stephen Anderson

Domiciled on the third floor in the middle building of a Palos Heights office center is a small law firm that is as typical in many respects as it is unique in others.

The six partners in the Amal Law Group represent clients in matters that range from commercial and residential real estate, family law and estate planning, to immigration, criminal defense and civil rights. Something for almost anybody in need of legal counsel.

Located on Route 83, which is called College Drive in this area, the firm is based in Cook County’s 5th Municipal District, but its partners travel frequently to downtown Chicago, Wheaton and other suburban courthouses.

Nothing unique about those attributes, but other things stand out among the practitioners in this neatly appointed law office.

The Amal Law Group is less than a year old, and the six partners have practiced law for only one to four years each. And all are women – Muslim women to be specific.

Four are graduates of the DePaul University College of Law: Rima Najjar Kaplan ’05, Heena Musabji ’05, S. Janaan Hashim ’06, and Nikia Marie Bilal ’07.

The others are Majdel Sami Musa, Thomas M. Cooley Law School ’04, and Maryam Khan, Northern Illinois University College of Law ’05.

Their previous experience has been varied. Bilal clerked with the Cook County public guardian’s office. Hashim was with the state appellate defender’s office. Khan worked at Chicago Title and managed the real estate practice at Leeders & Associates.

Kapitan had a solo practice and has been staff attorney for the Council on American Islamic Relations. Musabji also was a staff attorney for CAIR-Chicago, where she directed the Citizenship Delay Program. Musa is a Realtor who had her own law firm.

Although all were born in the United States, some are fluent in other languages. Kapitan and Musa, for instance, speak Arabic and French. Musabji can converse with clients in Gujrati, Hindi or Urdu.

Managing niches of a general practice firm, the six partners provide comprehensive legal services to individuals and families outside of the Muslim community in the south suburbs.

The firm name, Amal, translates to “hope” in Arabic, Hashim said. “Our faith calls us to be active participants in civic life.”

An adjunct professor at the McCormick Theological Seminary, where she teaches Religious Pluralism and the Ministry, Hashim is a spokesperson for the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago.

“This firm is how we, a new generation of American Muslim women, choose to contribute,” she said, “offering our expertise and our service to communities in Chicago and beyond.”

For more information, visit the Web site, http://www.amallaw.com. To contact one of the partners, call (708) 361-3600.