The American Bar Association ("ABA") definition of a paralegal (a/k/a legal assistant), as adopted by the ABA House of Delegates in August 1997, is:

"A legal assistant or paralegal is a person, qualified by education, training or work experience, who is employed or retained by a lawyer, law office, corporation, governmental agency or other entity and who performs specifically-delegated substantive legal work for which a lawyer is responsible."

Section 57.104, Florida Statutes, states:

"Legal assistant" means a person, who under the supervision and direction of a licensed attorney engages in legal research, and case development or planning in relation to modifications or initial proceedings, services, processes, or applications; or who prepares or interprets legal documents or selects, compiles, and uses technical information from references such as digests, encyclopedias, or practice manuals and analyzes and follows procedural problems that involve independent decisions.