I was a law librarian for several years in public and private sectors (serving the courts, 2 major organizations of which 1 on of them was a national law firm, other an international professional services firm..and a legal aid organization) ...and it was my observation that in the end, it is the lawyer(s) that you work for, that can sign off the final legal opinion/memoranda, contracts, research, etc.

The credit goes to the lawyer(s), not to the paralegal(s)...as long as you're aware of this.

In 1-2 Canadian provinces, there have been debates on licensing of paralegals. Ontario was 1 jurisdiction where this was heavily discussed. The report would be online at the govn't website.

Like most jobs, sometimes being in a smaller organization or a division, you might have a broader range of responsibilities. Even in a legal aid organization, where such legal organizations are much more democratic/flatter, paralegals did have considerable interface with the clients to determine their legal needs and assist in filing court applications, etc. but in the end it had to be a lawyer to sign off a legal opinion or legal interpretation of the law, for the client. In the legal aid organization, the paralegals did assist in matters of family law, landlord and tenant matters and consumer law.