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Legal Assistants are employed in law firms, courts, government agencies, public and private agencies, corporations, financial institutions, insurance companies, title companies, and real estate offices.
A Legal Assistant may also be termed a "paralegal." According to the American Bar Association, a legal assistant or paralegal is a person who is qualified through education, training or work experience to perform substantive legal work that requires knowledge of legal concepts and is customarily, but not exclusively, performed by a lawyer.
Typical tasks which Legal Assistants, under the supervision of an attorney, may perform:
Research factual and legal issues
Interview clients and witnesses
Prepare pleadings, subpoenas, wills, contracts, and other legal documents
Draft and review contracts, deeds, mortgages, leases, and other legal documents
Prepare for and attend real estate closings
Prepare documents concerning corporations, partnerships, and business enterprises
Gather facts and prepare documents and forms for family law practice
Gather information in preparation for lawsuits
Digest and index information obtained prior to trial
Maintain complex dockets and files, both manually and on a computerized basis, for availability to attorneys
Prepare for criminal trials and assist attorney in the prosecution or defense of criminal cases
Utilize computer literacy skills
Legal Assistants can perform many of the tasks lawyers perform but cannot:
Give legal advice
Sign legal documents
Represent clients in a court of law
Set legal fees
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