The role of a Legal Secretary A legal assistant, legal support worker or paralegal is a person who is trained to perform a multitude of supporting jobs on the behalf of a lawyer. Although they cannot give legal advice, or represent someone in court, they are the people who do all or most of the legal research that goes into making a case. Function: Employed by a lawyer or law firm, the job of a legal assistant is to put into action what a solicitor tells a client they can do for them. For instance, a solicitor tells a client that they will look into where the client stands legally, and it is the job of the legal assistant to do the research to find out where the lawyer's client stands on a particular issue. They are also tasked with drafting legal documents such as contracts, but these have to be checked by a lawyer before they can be accepted in case the draft does not apply to the client and specific areas of the law unknown to the legal assistant. Education: Despite not being required to have any qualifications beyond GCSEs or A-Levels to become a legal assistant, many law firms will not employ anyone without at least a law degree as a good knowledge of law is vital to be able to do this type of work. The top law firms are even choosier, and only except law graduates who have taken their LPC (Legal Practice Certificate). Some