I Am Not A Lawyer

What Does I Am Not A Lawyer Mean?

The phrase “I am not a lawyer,” abbreviated IANAL, is common in chat room slang and digital messaging. Users often see it pop up in forums or chat rooms, or in instant messaging text.

Techopedia Explains I Am Not A Lawyer

“I am not a lawyer” or IANAL is used as a disclaimer to notify other users that the person sending the message is not qualified to practice law. For example, one might see something like “IANAL, but maybe you could sue the company for discrimination.” Sometimes another similar term is also used, “I am not your lawyer” or IANYL. These two can sometimes be used interchangeably, although using IANYL can imply that the person is, in fact, a lawyer, but simply does not represent the recipient of the comment.

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Margaret Rouse

Technology Specialist

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.

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