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There's a particular kind of dread that comes with a 40-page PDF and a note saying "let me know if you're happy with this."
You skim it. You understand about 60% of it. You sign anyway, because reading it properly means two hours you don't have.
That's the job Claude is genuinely good at, and most people ask it the wrong question.
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Stop asking for a summary
"Summarise this contract" gives you a tidy paragraph that tells you what you already assumed. It flattens the document, and the whole risk of a contract lives in the bits that stick out.
What you want instead is an adversarial read. Ask it to find what could hurt you, sorted by how much.
Upload the PDF straight into Claude and run this:
You're a commercial contracts reviewer. I'm the party being asked to sign this. Read the attached document and be sceptical on my behalf.
My situation: [who you are, what you're being paid or paying, what you actually want out of this]
Give me:
1. THE DEAL IN SIX LINES. What I give, what I get, when, and for how long.
2. WHAT COULD HURT ME. Every clause that creates risk, cost, or an obligation that isn't obvious. Rank by how badly it could bite. For each one, quote the exact clause, then say in plain English what it means on a bad day.
3. WHAT'S MISSING. Standard protections a document like this usually has that this one doesn't.
4. UNUSUAL TERMS. Anything that isn't market standard for this kind of agreement.
5. THE FIVE QUESTIONS I should ask before signing, in the order I should ask them.
Quote clause numbers throughout. If something is ambiguous, say it's ambiguous rather than guessing what it means.Why this version works
Three things are doing the work.
Telling it which side you're on. A contract has no neutral reading, and without that line you get a description instead of a defence.
Asking it to quote before interpreting. That's what keeps you able to check its work. If it can't point at the clause, it invented the concern.
Asking what's missing. This is the one people never think to ask, and it's usually where the real problem is. What isn't in a contract can cost you more than what is.
The obvious caveat, said properly
This is a first read, not legal advice, and I'm not a lawyer. What it does is change what you take to one.
Instead of paying a solicitor to explain the whole document to you, you arrive with five specific questions about four specific clauses. Same protection, a fraction of the meter running.
For anything genuinely binding or expensive, still get a professional to look. The point is walking in informed instead of nodding along.
Every contract that lands gets the same review
If contracts land on you regularly, this shouldn't be a prompt you go and find each time.
Turn it into a Claude Skill. Then it's a standing capability: drop the PDF in and it runs the whole structure without you rewriting the instructions. Same move works for supplier quotes, insurance renewals and client scope documents.
You can run this today.
The harder question is what to charge when you do it for somebody else, because plenty of small businesses have the same 40-page problem and no one to hand it to.
That second half is where everything I make now lives.
Quick one.
What document do you dread most? Hit reply.
Talk soon,
Zephyr
