This is a bit of a follow up from [this Open Source meta post](https://opensource.meta.stackexchange.com/q/740/69). You don't have to read it, though you can if you'd like some background - but everything is covered here as well. I also meant to write this up a long while back, but if you don't mind, I'll present my last year of school as an excuse :P

A long while back, there was a bit of talk over the use of acronym disclaimers (e.g. IANAL - I am not a lawyer) that were starting to gain momentum in numerous answers over the site. Some of them were acronyms, like the classic IANAL, or things that are more wordy such as in [this post](https://opensource.stackexchange.com/a/4313/69).

Open Source has a foundation on software licenses, and it involves *a lot* of law. We want everyone to feel safe and comfortable here, while making clear to people what the law is, and why they shouldn't use an answer as the basis for a big legal decision.

To quote Dale M in [this Law Stack Exchange answer](https://law.stackexchange.com/a/699/909):

> 
> First, there is no presumption in any jurisdiction that I am aware of that anyone is or is not a lawyer (or doctor, or engineer etc.). If people *knew* that you were, however, then it is reasonable that they would give your statements more weight then if they did not know. It may also be reasonable if they *suspected* you were. The practical purpose of such a disclaimer is to **ensure** that they **know** you aren't.
> 
> 
> For the specific facts you give, you would **certainly** be in a better position if you said: "But I'm not a lawyer, so you should seek professional advice"; not so much because you told them you weren't a lawyer but rather because this changes your *advice* to "seek professional advice". It's impossible to be wrong with that advice!
> 
> 
> 

The disclaimers that people use carry importance, and we're not attempting to dispute that. However, we were somewhat concerned with a few things:

* Do "IANAL" acronym-style disclaimers even do anything? Are they effective?
* Does the larger presence of acronyms in posts start to clutter them? Personally, I believe that posts should be clear of short forms, and be clear and professional. Will they be understood, and will they lower the quality of posts on the site?
* Are people really concerned with themselves *providing* an answer, or someone else *interpreting* the answer as legal advice?

We want to help.

So we're asking, what can we do to help solve all of this? Think of anything, be creative!