Today, most legal assistants are training in training programs in community colleges and 4-year schools. There are both public and private legal assisting programs. Most of the community college programs are A.S. degree programs which contain a component of general education courses but which are principally devoted to legal specialty courses. The most obvious place to find legal assistants is in the traditional law office. Although this career is relatively new, having emerged since the 1970's, today firms of all sizes regularly employ a variety of legal assistants.
Government offices use legal assistants as do private companies.
Legal assistants can be found interviewing clients, preparing documents, doing legal research, preparing exhibits for trial, probating estates, closing real estate transactions and an endless list of other activities. Just as there are an infinite number of ways to practice law, so there are an infinite number of ways to be a legal assistant. Try these websites for the two large national organizations. Chances are they love it and would be thrilled to talk about their career.