- The American Bar Association defines a legal assistant, or paralegal, as "a person qualified by education, training or work experience who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entity who performs specifically delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible." Legal paraprofessionals cannot provide legal advice, and the responsibility for their work is entirely on the supervising attorney. Legal Document Assistants registered to prepare specific legal instruments often work independent of a lawyer but must be registered with the state and bonded against malpractice.
- Aside from the functions reserved exclusively to an attorney, which include representation of a client in court and establishment of privileged attorney-client relationships, paralegals can perform any function typically associated with the practice of law. Usually this means research, writing and preparing briefs and display materials.
- Legal paraprofessionals provide significant value to the consumers of legal services by performing the day-to-day tasks of case management and document preparation at a fraction of the rate billed by an attorney. They also make lawyers and law firms more efficient, allowing them to handle more cases in a given period of time.
- Legal paraprofessionals must be capable of performing the functions required of them, which means in addition to general abilities such as organization and focus, some education and knowledge of law is required. In practice, legal paraprofessionals are often highly specialized in the area of law and the types of legal work they typically perform, as the tasks of paralegals can differ substantially depending on their employer. Litigation paralegals usually manage files and conduct research for internal use, whereas corporate paralegals might assist drafting or reviewing contracts, and others could be involved in community outreach.
- Having begun as essentially glorified secretaries, recognition of paraprofessionals as important contributors to the legal profession increased dramatically over the last few decades of the twentieth century. The National Association of Legal Professionals was incorporated in 1975, offering a national credential. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, the median annual salary for a paralegal in the private sector was $45,460 in the United States as of May 2006. Though certification remains voluntary, some states have legislated licensing requirements for paralegals.
