legal assistant
1
3.0
- noun
- /ˈliːɡəl əˈsɪstənt/
:
asistente legal
- The firm formed a book group in which attorneys and legal assistants read five or six TQM classics.
- works as a legal assistant
Examples
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Paralegals or legal assistants are professionals who assist attorneys.
Blog text (15) -
I'm a legal assistant who has worked in both Australia and Canada; I understand the concept.
Blog text (26) -
I was just recently called for an opportunity to interview with the DA's office as a legal assistant.
Blog text (33) -
Many corporate legal assistants have more experience.
Blog text (7) -
The most significant development, however, may be the growing presence of paralegals (also identified by such terms as legal assistant, legal technician, nonlawyer practitioner, or freelance paralegal) who provide basic legal services directly to consumers without the supervision of lawyers.
Academic text (1993) -
Maria works as a legal assistant at a prestigious law firm, helping attorneys prepare for trials.
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After graduating, Jenna found a position as a legal assistant in a busy corporate office.
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As a legal assistant, Tom is responsible for organizing case files and conducting legal research.
Synonyms
32
6.6
A person who helps lawyers with legal tasks but cannot act as a lawyer
How Experienced
1
3.0
229
3.1
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an assistant who works in legal matters' follows directly from combining 'legal' (pertaining to law) with 'assistant' (a helper), so a learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a helper in the legal domain. This straightforward compound noun pattern is cross-linguistically common, so B1 learners would understand the basic sense (even if they might not know whether it denotes a human or a software system without extra context).
Etymology
Legal assistant is a name from the simple idea of a legal worker needing an assistant: picture someone in a law office sorting papers, doing research, and drafting documents for a lawyer. So, it means 'a trained person who helps lawyers with legal work but is not a lawyer'.