Permitted to employ a leg man (5)
I believe the answer is:
legal
'permitted' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'leg man' is the wordplay.
'man' becomes 'Al' (man's name).
'leg'+'al'='LEGAL'
'to employ a' is the link.
This may not be correct. Some or all of it may be part of another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for legal that I've seen before include "within the rules" , "Referring to the law" , "Compliant with the law" , "Constitutional" , "Rightful" .)