I like the way Creative Commons licenses do it. First there is a simple bullet-point-wise summary for layman like this: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ . Then there is the entire legal code for lawyers: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode .
I think all contracts should be written like this. If any clause of the legal code contradicts the summary for layman, then the summary for layman should take precedence during its interpretation in the court.
This practice is not unusual. Books often start with a preface or foreword. Very dense technical or research papers start with an abstract and introduction. But for some reason contracts do not follow this practice.
If the summary takes precedence, then what purpose does the legal code serve?
The details.
How would that help with this - "Banks typically argue — and courts have in many cases agreed — that customers are bound by the bank’s most-current terms, even if they leased their box years or even decades earlier."
We could also take the mortgage approach, where the actual contract is in fact very long, but there is a required simple-to-understand cover sheet that summarizes all the pertinent details in a clear way.
Quick google - Chase’s contract below, bold print middle of the first page.
https://www.chase.com/content/dam/chase-ux/documents/persona...
Something like a safe deposit box should be a single page document with something like this:
- cost is $X/month and prices are revaluated every Y months and can increase by a maximum of $Z/month - may access the box X times/month without any additional fees - bank's liability is max $X or Y months of rent, whichever is higher/lower - if rent is not paid, X happens, and after Y months of non-payment, Z happens - policy/fee for lost keys
I haven't actually opened one, but I wouldn't be surprised if the contract was 10 pages long and the maximum liability was somewhere in the middle in fairly small print.