What is a paralegal, or legal assistant?
Did you see the movie, “Erin Brockovich”? She was working in the capacity of a paralegal or legal assistant. There’s really no difference between the two titles, it’s just a matter of preference. As defined by the National Federation of Paralegal Associations,(NFPA) a paralegal/legal assistant is a person 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. This person may be retained or employed by a lawyer, law office, governmental agency or other entity or may be authorized by administrative, statutory or court authority to perform this work. NFPA’s preferred term is “Paralegal.” Many NFPA members, however, use the term “Legal Assistant.” The formal establishment of the paralegal profession can be traced to the 1960s when individuals were trained to assist attorneys in making legal services available to the poor during the “War on Poverty.”
Did you see the movie, “Erin Brockovich”? She was working in the capacity of a paralegal or legal assistant. There’s really no difference between the two titles, it’s just a matter of preference. As defined by the National Federation of Paralegal Associations,(NFPA) a paralegal/legal assistant is a person 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. This person may be retained or employed by a lawyer, law office, governmental agency or other entity or may be authorized by administrative, statutory or court authority to perform this work. NFPA’s preferred term is “Paralegal.” Many NFPA members, however, use the term “Legal Assistant.” The formal establishment of the paralegal profession can be traced to the 1960s when individuals were trained to assist attorneys in making legal services available to the poor during the “War on Poverty.”
