When high-priced LA lawyers get together for lunch, it's as likely as not they'll be someplace with white tablecloths, silver flatware and a wine list. But today, attorneys from the big global firm Nixon Peabody are having chicken, rice and beans from a Mexican fast-food chain. No ties or heels either, as the lawyers fill their paper plates and chow down while they listen to some instructions from Michele Seyler. They've ridden a bus for the hour-long journey from downtown to Citrus College, a community college in the San Gabriel Valley. Seyler, an immigration and naturalization expert with the nonprofit Central American Resource Center, is briefing the lawyers on the work they'll be doing. These people normally command fees of several hundred dollars an hour, fees their clients can afford to pay. But today, gratis, they'll spend the day advising some very different clients: lawful permanent residents — often referred to as Green Card holders — who are seeking to become U.S. Citizens.
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