Lindsay's New Lawyer -- I Got a Foodie Socialite to Sponsor Me!

Lindsay Lohan's new lawyer just got a sponsor which he needs to practice law in California -- but we've learned the woman who's vouching for him hasn't practiced law for at least 17 years.

TMZ broke the story ... Lindsay fired Shawn Holley last week and hired New York attorney Mark Heller, to rep her in her lying-to-cops criminal case in L.A.. Heller can ONLY rep Lindsay if he gets a sponsor who is admitted to practice law in California, but worry not -- there are more than 200,000 to choose from.

Then again ... Heller may have had problems finding a sponsor, because the person he got hasn't practiced law in California since 1996.

Her name is Lindsay Berger Sacks. She was admitted to practice law in 1994 and became an inactive member of the bar 2 years later -- meaning she couldn't practice anymore.

Berger Sacks -- who we're told is a pretty big L.A. socialite and co-founder of the Doheny Dining Club -- reactivated her membership last Tuesday ... we've learned it's just 3 days before Heller filed legal docs to represent Lindsay. Heller listed Berger Sacks as his sponsor.

It looks like Holley is out of the picture because in his legal docs, Heller is asking that Lindsay's case file be forwarded to Berger Sacks so he can get cracking on the case.