BAAML Timelines & Milestones
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September 2001: Two weeks after September 11, 2001, the Bay Area Association of Muslim Lawyers
was founded by a small group of lawyers and law students to respond to backlash discrimination and
hate crimes. The “BAMLnet” listserv was started.
Fall 2001: BAAML members organized or spoke at several "know your rights" presentations to the
local Muslim community, including one event attended by over 500 people. BAAML created a referral
list of legal resources for the Muslim community.
2002
March 2002: Azizah al-Hibri, professor of law at the University of Richmond, met with BAAML
members to discuss women's rights and Islamic law.
April 2002: Local attorney and member Neelam Noorani spoke on domestic violence and her legal
volunteering work at a BAAML brunch (Fremont).
September 2002: BAAML convened a meeting of South Bay Muslim community leaders to define and
discuss the most pressing legal needs of the community (Stanford Law School).
November 2002: BAAML convened a second legal needs assessment meeting of Muslim community
leaders, this time focused on the East Bay and San Francisco (Boalt Law School).
2003
February 2003: BAAML arranged information tables at four Bay Area Eid prayers to inform people
about INS Special Registration.
March 2003: On the verge of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, BAAML organized the distribution of a one-page
ACLU flyer on FBI interviews to over 80 mosques, ethnic restaurants and grocery stores throughout
the Bay Area.
April 2003: BAAML brunch in San Francisco.
April 2003?: BAAML convened a training for Muslim community leaders on pressing civil rights
issues, specifically FBI interviews, surveillance, and charitable donations. The training was held at
the Muslim Community Association in Santa Clara and featured attorneys Jayashri Srikantiah, Stacy
Tolchin, Mark Schlosberg, and Banafsheh Akhlaghi as speakers.
November 2003: The first annual BAAML Ramadan iftar—or fast-breaking dinner—was held in
Milpitas.
2004
April 2004: Carol Gillam, an experienced Los Angeles employment litigator, spoke on her stunning
post-9/11 success in a case involving a wrongfully terminated Muslim client who won $2 million in a
jury verdict. The presentation, titled “Carol Gillam: A Trial Lawyer's Reflection on Surmounting
Prejudice at Trial," was sponsored by the Ellahie Law Firm of San Jose.
May 2004: BAAML approved its first constitution and held its first steering committee elections. The
constitution describe the organization's purpose as being “to serve the educational, professional, and
social needs of Muslim lawyers and law students in the Bay Area and the legal needs of American
Muslim communities, particularly those of the Bay Area.”
June 2004: BAAML lunch in Fremont.
October 2004: BAAML participated in a widely covered joint press conference with the ACLU, National
Lawyers Guild, and other organizations to discuss the government's "October Plan" to increase
surveillance of Muslim communities during the presidential elections.
October 2004: The Muslim Community Association convened a civil rights panel discussion and legal
clinic, cosponsored by BAAML, to assist community members affected by the October Plan.
October 2004: Second annual Ramadan iftar held in Fremont.
October 2004: BAAML held a legal training for attorneys, called “FBI for Dummies,” to educate
attorneys on representing individuals in FBI investigations. The event featured attorneys Saad Ahmed,
Dan Mayfield, and Nicholas Humey, and was sponsored by the San Jose law firm of McManus
Faulkner and Morgan.
2005
Throughout 2005: BAAML and the Council on American-Islamic Relations jointly organized numerous
"know your rights" presentations at local mosques throughout Northern California, including San
Jose, Belmont, Fremont, San Francisco, Tracy, Stockton, and Lodi.
March 2005: At a brunch in Oakland, immigration attorney Stacy Tolchin of Van Der Hout, Bragagliano
& Nightingale spoke about her defense of clients targeted by the government for political reasons,
including the Hamdan and Mirmehdi cases.
April 2005: BAAML held its second elections. The same event featured a talk by Diana Buttu, the
former legal adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization.
May 2005: BAAML attended a meeting of local civil rights organizations and the San Francisco FBI to
discuss civil rights concerns arising from continued FBI interviews in the community.
May 2005: BAAML member Minal Hasan founded a biweekly legal clinic at the Muslim Community
Association, cosponsored by the Pro Bono Project. The clinic is regularly staffed by BAAML attorneys.
May 2005: Member Farhan Memon spoke on “The Validity of Muslim Marriage Contracts under
California Law,” at a BAAML dinner in Fremont.
June 2005: After several Muslim men in Lodi were arrested or detained by federal authorities, BAAML
attorneys represented community members in FBI interviews, held several "know your rights"
education sessions in the Central Valley, and participated in a press conference to discuss civil rights
concerns arising from the Lodi investigations.
August 2005: The Recorder, a legal newspaper, published a front-page article on BAAML titled
“Deflecting Scare Tactics.” (8/19/05)
Fall 2005: BAAML held several social events at law firms and restaurants in San Francisco and Palo
Alto.
October 2005: Third annual Ramadan iftar held in Oakland.
November 2005: BAAML helped author and circulate a letter from Muslim American organizations
supporting Mukhtar Mai, the Pakistani gang rape survivor who courageously spoke out on her
experience and violence against women.
November 2005: BAAML attended a meeting of the San Francisco FBI and Northern California Muslim
community leaders.
November 2005: BAAML convened a second legal training for attorneys on representing individuals in
FBI investigations. Titled “When the FBI Knocks: Representing Clients in National Security
Interviews,” the event was held at U.C. Davis Law School specifically to train Sacramento area
attorneys. Speakers included Mark Reichel, Nancy Hormachea, and Sara Mostafavi.