Paola Ivonne Neri

PAOLA I. NERI-MICHEL, ESQ.

FOUNDER AND MANAGING PARTNER

Paola I. Neri-Michel is an immigration attorney that has a great depth of knowledge and experience in U.S. immigration services and handles family-based and employment/entertainment-based immigration cases. She established her law firm in February 2020 convinced that organization, communication, and exceptional case management are essential keys to success. As an immigration attorney, she has successfully represented clients in family-based visa petitions, waivers, U.S. citizenship, U Visas, VAWA, DACA, employment-based visas such as the TN visa, E-1 visa, E-2 visa, O-1 visa for people with extraordinary abilities or achievements, and L-1A visa, and in immigration court matters. She has also represented clients in removal proceedings at the Los Angeles Immigration Court and beyond. Paola has a solid reputation for being honest, reliable, and treating each case with dedication and a personal touch.

Paola grew up in San Diego, after immigrating from Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, at the age of five and was raised by a single mother in a working-class home. She fully understands the obstacles many immigrants face when immigrating to a new country. 

Paola holds various positions in both a volunteer and leadership capacity. She is an active member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), the largest immigration attorney organization with over 15,000 members across the United States and abroad, where she served as a Law Student Liaison from 2018 to 2019. Currently, she is a member of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee 2023 to 2024 and the Immediate Past Chair on the Executive Committee for the AILA Southern California Chapter 2022 to 2023. She is a volunteer for AILA’s Military Assistance Program where she takes pro bono cases to help military service members in need and in 2023 she joined the AILA National Military Committee. Paola is an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, Los Angeles Chapter, where she served as Co-Chair of the Steering Committee for the Los Angeles Chapter’s Immigration Committee, 2020 to 2022. She is also an active member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA) and the Beverly Hills Bar Association. In 2021, Paola joined LACBA’s Immigration Section Executive Committee.

Paola speaks Spanish and English and takes cases all over the United States and abroad. Paola is admitted to the United States District Court, Eastern and Southern District of California. In January 2020, Paola was voted by her colleagues as one of the best immigration lawyers, a “Top Attorney” in Pasadena, California for Pasadena Magazine. Additionally, she has earned Avvo’s Client Choice Awards for five consecutive years 2019-2023 and was selected to the 2021, 2022, and 2023 Super Lawyers Southern California Rising Stars list, an honor reserved for only 2.5% of attorneys in Southern California. Paola recently published a book called “Latinas Who BossUp,” which made the Amazon Best Sellers List in the categories of Women Writers, Women Author Literary Criticism, and Caribbean & Latin American Art History, and emceed her first professional event in 2022 for the Mexican American Bar Association’s 62nd Annual Installation of Officers & Awards Gala at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles.

Paola has spoken on several panels on the topic of immigration and law school, has been invited as a guest for radio interviews and podcasts, and has volunteered her time to share her expertise in live trainings and workshops both in-person and virtually, including a Town Hall for Assemblymember Mike Gipson, District 64, on basic immigration eligibility and USCIS Backlog Reduction Efforts. In 2022, Paola received a City of Los Angeles, Certificate of Appreciation from Former Los Angeles Mayor, Eric Garcetti, for her participation in the NALEO Educational Fund Virtual Citizenship Workshop, which helped lawful permanent residents obtain their U.S. citizenship. Paola has appeared in several magazines including Voyage LA Magazine, ShoutOut LA Magazine, Super Lawyers Magazine, and has received awards for her outstanding work from , , Avvo, and Yelp. In 2023, the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal published her article titled, “Solo practice for the virtual immigration lawyer.”

CONTACT
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Phone:

EDUCATION
• Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, J.D., May 2012, Admitted to the State Bar of California
• University of California, Irvine, Bachelor of Arts, Criminology, Law, and Society, Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude

JURISDICTIONS ADMITTED TO PRACTICE LAW
• Admitted to the State Bar of California, Practices immigration law in all 50 states
• United States District Court for the Central District of California
• United States District Court for the Southern District of California

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
• Board Member, Alumni Board of Governors, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, 2023-Present
• Community Partner, Children’s Institute of Los Angeles, 2023
• Chair, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), Executive Committee for the Southern California Chapter, 2022-2023
• Executive Committee Member, Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA), Immigration Section, 2021-Present
• Former Co-Chair, National Lawyers Guild (NLG), Steering Committee for the Los Angeles Chapter Immigration Committee, 2020-2022
• Former Vice Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary, AILA, Executive Committee for the Southern California Chapter, 2019-2022
• Former Volunteer, Legal Clinic, Los Angeles LGBT Center, Hollywood, 2020-2022
• Liaison, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, AILA Southern California, 2023-2024
• Liaison, Law Students, AILA Southern California Chapter, 2018-2019
• Member, Beverly Hills Bar Association, 2023-Present
• Member, NLG, Los Angeles Chapter, 2020-Present
• Member, LACBA, 2015-Present
• Member, Mexican American Bar Association (MABA), 2015-Present
• Member, AILA, 2015-Present
• Planning Committee Member, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, Milestone Reunions, 2023
• Planning Committee Member, Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice, Celebrating Survivors Gala, 2023
• Volunteer, NALEO Educational Fund, 2022-Present
• Volunteer, AILA Military Assistance Program, 2020-Present

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
• Discussion Leader & Panelist, “Lawyer Well-Being and Competency,” 2022 AILA 35th Annual California Chapters Conference, Los Angeles, California
• Discussion Leader & Panelist, “In A New Lawyer State of Mind: How to Have a Long, Successful, Healthy, and Happy Career,” 2022 AILA Annual Conference, New York City, New York
• Interview, Radio Sabiduría Latina, “DACA & Pending Legislation in Congress,” 2021
• Interview, Radio Conoce Mi Cultura, “Biden’s Immigration Plan,” 2021
• Interview, Radio Conoce Mi Cultura, “Neri Law Offices,” 2020
• Live Workshop for Parents, “Common Avenues of Relief for Permanent Residence in the United States,” Children's Institute of Los Angeles, Woodworth Monroe Middle School and Centinela Elementary School, 2023
• Live Classroom Workshop, “101 Training: VAWA, U Visa, and T Visas,” Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, Immigrant Justice Clinic, 2022
• Live Virtual Workshop, “Connecting with Others to Make a Difference: Social Media Training,” American Business Women Association, 2021
• Live Virtual Workshop, “Temporary Protected Status,” CARECEN, 2020
• Mistress of Ceremonies, MABA 62nd Annual Installation of Officers & Awards Gala, 2022
• Panelist, “Immigration Law Panel for Law Students,” Loyola Law School, Immigration Law Society, 2024
• Panelist, “Immigration Practice 102: Practice Management Tips for Building a Solo Immigration Firm,” Beverly Hills Bar Association, 2023
• Panelist, “VAWA and Self-Petitions for Battered Spouses, Children, and Parents,” 2023 AILA Annual Conference, Orlando, Florida
• Panelist, “Going Solo,” Loyola Law School, Latinx Law Students Association, 2023
• Panelist, MABA, Immigration Law Panel, 2022
• Podcast, Purpose & Passion with Raina Carrillo, 2023
• Podcast, The BosNet Family, Little Sister Hayes Corner, 2022
• Podcast, Spotify, Women with Vision, “Knowing Your Worth,” 2021
• Speaker, Women Who BossUp Summit, “A New Beginning,” 2022
• Speaker, AILA University Roundtable, AILA, Law Student Session on Business Immigration & Family Immigration, 2021
• Virtual Town Hall, Assemblymember Mike Gipson, District 64, “Basic Eligibility & USCIS Backlog Reduction Efforts,” 2022

PUBLICATIONS & RECOGNITIONS
• Daily Journal, Los Angeles and San Francisco, “Solo practice for the virtual immigration lawyer,” 2023
• Amazon, Best Selling Author, “Latinas Who BossUp,” 2021
• City of Los Angeles, Certificate of Appreciation, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, NALEO Educational Fund Virtual Citizenship Workshop, 2022
• Voyage LA Magazine, Featured in LA’s Most Inspiring Stories, 2022
• ShoutOut LA Magazine, Featured in Local Stories, 2021
• Voyage LA Magazine, Featured in Local Stories, 2020
• Super Lawyers, Southern California Rising Star, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
• , Best Immigration Attorneys in Fontana, California, 2022
• , Best Immigration Law Firm in Glendale, California, 2022
• , Client’s Choice Award, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
• , People Love Us on Yelp, 2021
• Pasadena Magazine, Top Lawyers, 2020