A questionnaire was mailed to all members of the Montgomery County (Maryland) Bar Association in order to assess the need for trained legal assistants among practicing Montgomery County attorneys, and to elicit their opinions of functions legal assistants might perform and recommendations for coursework and other aspects of a legal assistant training program. Responses were received from 14% of the law practices, representing 29% of the practicing attorneys. Seventy-eight percent of the respondents indicated they would like to have their employees take additional training and 72% indicated an interest in hiring a legal assistant, but 86% would prefer to promote their own legal secretaries through legal assistant courses and on-the-job training. Only 54% had any interest in hiring a new employee to serve as a legal assistant. Because of the very low response rate and overrepresentation of large law firms in the respondent group, it was recommended that the survey results be viewed cautiously. It was suggested that a series of courses in a certificate program might be more appropriate than a separate program leading to a degree. The survey instrument is appended. (JDS)