Editing IANAL

{{Short description|Usenet and chat abbreviation for the expansion "I am not a lawyer"}}
{{Redirect|IAAL|the village in Lebanon|Iaal}}
'''IANAL''' is a [[Usenet]] and [[Online chat|chat]] abbreviation ([[Acronym#Nomenclature|initialism]]) for the expansion "'''I am not a lawyer'''".<ref name="Wacha">{{cite journal
|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-8464702_ITM
|title=Taking the case: is the GPL enforceable?  
|author=Jason B. Wacha
|date=February 1, 2005
|journal=Santa Clara Computer & High Technology Law Journal
|publisher=[[University of Santa Clara]], School of Law
|access-date=2008-01-01}}</ref> The expansion may be used by non-lawyers who are seeking to avoid accusations of [[unauthorized practice of law]] and are not making any recommendation to the particular addressee of their remarks.

A related abbreviation, '''TINLA''', stands for "'''This is not legal advice'''". One or both of these expansions often precede opinions about [[law]].<ref name="Wacha"/> The use of these expansions serves as a warning for the reader not to take the opinion as professional legal advice. Many jurisdictions have legal restrictions on actually giving or even appearing to give legal advice, or otherwise practicing as a [[lawyer]] without legal qualifications and official registration. Rendition of legal advice by a person who is not licensed to do so can be the basis for a charge of unauthorized practice of law.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.wsba.org/Lawyers/groups/practiceoflaw/uplcomplaintinfotrifold403.doc  
|title=Unauthorized Practice of Law Pamphlet
|publisher=Washington State Bar Association
|access-date=2008-01-08
|quote=A person who provides legal services, who is not a licensed lawyer, or who is not otherwise  authorized by law to provide legal services, may be engaging in the Unauthorized Practice of Law (UPL).  In Washington UPL is a crime.|format=DOC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216045236/http://www.wsba.org/Lawyers/groups/practiceoflaw/uplcomplaintinfotrifold403.doc |archive-date=2008-02-16}}</ref>

== Origin and usage ==
The term IANAL is reported to have been common on Usenet by the late 1980s and early 1990s.<ref>{{cite news
|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB111453451191317300?mod=googlewsj
|title=Readers Parse Text-Message Slang
|author=Tim Hanrahan and Jason Fry
|work=Real Time Exchange
|date=April 27, 2005
|publisher=[[Wall Street Journal]]
|access-date=2008-01-01}}</ref>

The [[case law]] standard for determining what comments cross the line is generally "the application of law to facts specific to an individual seeking legal advice". Attorneys may use a disclaimer to reduce confusion, and "I am not your lawyer" is part of a typical disclaimer.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://californialawyermagazine.com/cleStory.cfm?eid=435466&evid=1&qVersionID=160&qTypeID=7
|title=Attorney Internet Ethics
|author=John Steele
|date=April 2002
|publisher=California Lawyer
|quote=An attorney who wants to respond to a chat room question should not give legal advice until the attorney and would-be client have explicitly discussed or created an attorney-client relationship.... Otherwise, the attorney needs to use a written disclaimer in the chat room, stating something like, "This information is given for legal education only. It may not work for your specific situation. It is not legal advice, and I am not your lawyer. You have to find your own local lawyer to get legal advice and help with your problem."
|access-date=2008-01-08
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181201133736/http://californialawyermagazine.com/cleStory.cfm?eid=435466&evid=1&qVersionID=160&qTypeID=7
|archive-date=2018-12-01
|url-status=dead
}}</ref> There are "weighty obligations" that go along with the creation of a lawyer–client relationship, particularly if an "online exchange includes legal advice relating to the client's specific facts". Courts have held that (in the case of [[900 number]]s) [[Standard form contract|boilerplate]] disclaimers without clear actions to indicate assent may not avoid the creation of a lawyer–client relationship.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.nhbar.org/publications/archives/display-journal-issue.asp?id=152
|title=The Ethics of Practicing Law in Cyberspace
|author=Jennifer P. Hopkins
|date=June 1, 2002
|publisher=New Hampshire Bar Association
|access-date=2008-01-08}}</ref>

Variations of IANAL can be applied to different fields, such as '''IANAMD''' for "I am not a [[medical doctor]]" or '''IANAP''' for "I am not a [[physicist]]"<ref>{{cite web |url=http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=963459&cid=24998529 |title=Tying knots with light |publisher=science.slashdot.org}}</ref> These expansions serve the same general purpose as IANAL{{snd}}to discourage the use of the information as professional advice.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}

== See also ==
* [[I'm not a scientist]], a political phrase
* [[Jargon File]], a glossary of computer programmer slang

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary|IANAL}}
*[http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/I/IANAL.html IANAL] at The Jargon File (catb.org)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ianal}}
[[Category:Internet slang]]
[[Category:Legal ethics]]
[[Category:Initialisms]]

[[de:Liste von Abkürzungen (Netzjargon)#I]]