Definition
"I N" is an abbreviation appearing in older legal texts and digests. It functions as a shorthand notation rather than a standalone legal term, and its meaning depends entirely on context.
1. In admiralty and insurance law: "I N" abbreviates "in nature," used in phrases such as "in nature of" to describe a proceeding, remedy, or action that resembles but is not identical to a named form of action. A proceeding described as "in nature of" a particular writ or action borrows the character of that form without technically being it.
2. In citation and digest practice: "I N" may appear as an abbreviated reference to a case name, index entry, or section heading in older legal digests and reporters, functioning as a locator abbreviation rather than a term of art.
3. In immigration law (modern usage): "I-N" prefixes appear on USCIS form designations (e.g., I-9, I-485, I-130), where the "I" stands for "immigration" and the number identifies the specific form. These are administrative designations, not legal terms in the traditional sense.
The Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) entry points to a single case citation context and does not define "I N" as a substantive legal concept; it is treated as an indexing or abbreviation artifact.
Why It Matters in Research
Researchers encountering "I N" in historical legal materials should not treat it as a defined term of art but as an abbreviation requiring resolution by context. The primary research trap is assuming the abbreviation carries consistent meaning across different source types — it does not.
In older reporters and digests, abbreviations like "I N" were not standardized across publishers. What one digest uses as a section header, another uses as a case-name fragment. When tracing a citation such as the one appearing in Black's 2nd Ed. — referencing E v. Goddard, 18 How. 198 — the researcher should consult the full volume of Howard's Reports directly, as the abbreviation in the surrounding digest entry may compress a phrase ("in nature of," "in the name of," or an index letter pairing) that is fully spelled out in the original.
For modern immigration research, the "I-" form numbering system is a USCIS administrative convention. Researchers should not conflate these administrative form designations with the historical abbreviation usage. The I-9, I-485, and related forms each have their own regulatory histories, filing requirements, and legal consequences that are entirely independent of any historical use of "I N" as a textual abbreviation.
The Law Mind corpus contains materials spanning both the historical digest tradition and modern immigration administrative law. Researchers should use the encyclopedia entries on immigration forms (I-9 verification, adjustment of status via I-485) as the authoritative source for those modern designations, and treat any "I N" appearing in pre-20th-century legal texts as an abbreviation to be decoded from surrounding context rather than a term with independent definitional content.
Historical Dictionary Support
Black's Law Dictionary (2nd Ed.) does not define "I N" as a substantive legal term. The entry appears to function as a digest or index artifact, with the sole supporting reference being E v. Goddard, 18 How. 198, 14 L. Ed. — a citation to Howard's Reports (U.S. Supreme Court), a reporter series covering the 1843–1860 period. The appearance of this citation suggests the abbreviation was used in connection with a legal proposition drawn from that case, but the dictionary itself does not elaborate on the substantive content.
Historical legal dictionaries of the same era (including Bouvier's and earlier editions of Black's) made extensive use of Latin and abbreviated English phrases as index and digest markers. "I N" fits this pattern. Researchers should not expect consistency in how such abbreviations were deployed across different publishing traditions of the 19th century.
What the historical sources miss: No historical dictionary treats "I N" as a term requiring substantive definition. This absence is itself informative — it confirms the abbreviation's function as a navigational device rather than a legal concept.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
For modern immigration form designations bearing the "I-" prefix:
— I-9 Employment Verification — Form Completion, Document Examination, and Reverification (The Law Mind Immigration Law Encyclopedia)
— Adjustment of Status (I-485) — Eligibility, Filing, Interview, and Concurrent Filing (The Law Mind Immigration Law Encyclopedia)
For admiralty and insurance context in which "in nature of" language may appear:
— Marine Insurance — Hull, Cargo, P&I, and the Principle of Indemnity (The Law Mind Military, Veterans & Admiralty Law Encyclopedia)