IANAL
I am not a lawyer
Example
IANAL, but I'm pretty sure asking state election officials to find fake votes is a crime
Related Slang
IMHO | In my humble opinion |
IMCO | In my considered opinion |
MOO | My own opinion |
NFA | Not financial advice |
CYA | Cover your a** |
DD | Due diligence |
DYOR | Do your own research |
When offering an opinion on a legal matter, forum posters who are not lawyers sometimes use IANAL to say as such. You're most likely to encounter this acronym on Reddit and other popular forums, when reading discussions about contentious issues such as divorce, child custody, finance law, property law, and crime.
IANAL is a signal that, even though someone is providing their take on a legal situation, it is only their best layman's opinion. The person may be knowledgeable on the topic being discussed, but they don't have a law degree, and they want anyone reading their opinion to take that into account.