Equally legal or a legal expert (9)

I believe the answer is:

solicitor

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'a legal expert' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'equally legal or' is the wordplay.
'equally legal' becomes 'solicit' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'solicit'+'or'='SOLICITOR'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for solicitor that I've seen before include "Legal practitioner" , "Advocate" , "legal adviser" , "court officer" , "Lawyer preparing cases for barristers" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.

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