English Translation
I recommend this lawyer.
Why is there no personal a?
Because lawyers aren’t people?
–
But more seriously: I do think I would add an “a”, but, to me, it doesn’t really sound wrong without it. Why exactly, I couldn’t tell. Maybe it’s considering the lawyer as a function rather than the person in itself, and thus the a is no longer necessary… Or maybe I’m getting influeced by other langugages, idk.
Digging a bit, I’ve found the rae’s take on the matter. I think this is the passage that applies here:
"…• Los nombres comunes de personas y animales llevan preposiciĂłn cuando van precedidos del artĂculo u otros determinantes que los identifiquen:
[…]
No la llevan cuando no son identificables, bien por ir sin determinante, bien por ir precedidos de un u otros indefinidos:
La universidad debe formar investigadores; Causaron muchos heridos…"
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Not to me either.
But here the speaker does have a specific lawyer in mind. I’m wondering whether it’s got something to do with recomendar. Consider “a ti te puedo recomendar este abogado”, where maybe it would sound awkward to have a second a.