"I Am A Lawyer"

Over the (relatively) short history of the Internet, there has been a constant barrage of IANAL or "I Am Not A Lawyer" references. Recently, however, some lawyers have come to specialise in both IT and legal fields, leading to the use of IAAL.

The use of IANAL was born of the lack of lawyers who have the first clue about Internet related isuues. This has been used as an excuse on otherwise intelligent forums (like slashdot) to host discussions involving legal issues where the majority claim that "IANAL, but ..."

This is often the equivalent of saying that "I Am Not A Doctor (IANAD), but, about your brain surgery ..."

The lack of IAALs has, in turn, led to court decisions and legislation of questionable enforceability and logic generally. While many consider lawyers on the net a Bad Thing (TM), the reality is that lawyers currently have a big say in how the world runs. Having more IT geek lawyers may, therefore, actually do more good than harm.

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