> While the parties are usually laypeople, the drafters and readers of significance are almost always lawyers. I disagree. First, many contracts are not drafte

> While the parties are usually laypeople, the drafters and readers of significance are almost always lawyers. I disagree. First, many contracts are not drafted by lawyers. Mortgage notes, which you mention, usually are; but, for example, a real estate sales contract in most states is standard boilerplate language that was drafted by realtors, not lawyers. Second, saying that lawyers have to read the contract if a dispute goes to court doesn't mean lawyers "almost always" are the readers of significance, since most contracts never result in a dispute that goes to court. If a dispute goes to court, then of course it is prudent to hire a lawyer to represent your interests. But if contract language has done its job properly, there will never be a dispute that needs to go to court, because both parties--lay people--will have had a common understanding of what the contract says and will act in good faith to fulfill it.