The Readability of Contracts: Big Data Analysis

Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 2024

55 Pages Posted: 29 Oct 2024

See all articles by Yonathan A. Arbel

Yonathan A. Arbel

University of Alabama - School of Law

Date Written: January 01, 2023

Abstract

The Plain Language Movement waged a silent revolution in the last generation, passing nearly 800 laws nationwide with little public debate. The movement asserted that it could scientifically show that there is a widespread readability crisis in legal documents, particularly contracts, that are unreadable to most adults. This article presents the largest empirical analysis of these claims to date, utilizing a dataset of 2 million contracts spanning multiple decades and industries and applying machine learning techniques.

The study challenges fundamental tenets of the Plain Language Movement, and, along the way, broadly held beliefs about the readability of contracts. Contrary to prevailing beliefs, consumer agreements have median reading scores almost indistinguishable from those of daily news articles. A critical evaluation further exposes that readability tools endorsed by the movement are shoddy and manipulable and can produce grade-level differences of up to 4.6 years for identical texts. Moreover, the movement's core belief that Americans cannot read past the level of an eighth grader is exposed as an unsubstantiated myth.

These findings fundamentally challenge the premises and effectiveness of one of the central consumer protection policies. These results call for a radical rethinking of legal access strategies, suggesting a shift from superficial readability metrics to addressing substantive issues in market dynamics and focusing on truly vulnerable populations. More broadly, this case study serves as a cautionary tale about the propagation of myths in legal scholarship and the potential for well-intentioned reform movements to divert attention and resources from more effective interventions.

JEL Classification: K12, K23, K41, C55, D18, D82, D86, L14, L51

Suggested Citation

Arbel, Yonathan A., The Readability of Contracts: Big Data Analysis (January 01, 2023). Journal of Empirical Legal Studies 2024, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4962098 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4962098

Yonathan A. Arbel (Contact Author)

University of Alabama - School of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 870382
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487
United States

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