Paralegal
Overview
 
Paralegal is used in most jurisdictions to describe a paraprofessional
Paraprofessional
Paraprofessional is a job title given to persons in various occupational fields, such as education, healthcare, engineering and law, who are trained to assist professionals but are not themselves licensed at a professional level...

 who assists qualified lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

s in their legal work. This is true in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and many other countries. However, in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, paralegals are licensed by the Law Society of Upper Canada, giving paralegals an independent status in this jurisdiction.

Paralegals are not the same in every country. In the United States, they are not authorized by the government or other agency to offer legal services in the same way, nor are they officers of the court, nor are they usually subject to government-/court-sanctioned rules of conduct.
 
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