Finish contract proof-reading in minutes, not hours

Final contract checks made simple

Jump to every term, clause, date, and placeholder that needs review. Flag errors, fix them faster, and send out contracts with confidence.

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The Risk Nobody Budgets For

Formatting Errors Have Real Consequences

These are real cases where a comma, a broken cross-reference, or a missing word turned into millions in liability. Every one of them would have been caught by automated proofing.

$5M Settlement

O'Connor v. Oakhurst Dairy (2017)

A missing Oxford comma in Maine's overtime exemption statute made it unclear whether "distribution" was a separate exempt activity. The ambiguity favored 75 dairy-truck drivers in a class action.
The First Circuit ruled the clause was ambiguous. Oakhurst Dairy settled for $5 million. Total exposure was $10 million.
ContractKen catches: list structure and punctuation consistency
$2.13M Loss

Rogers v. Bell Aliant (2006)

A comma before "unless" in a termination clause created ambiguity about whether either party could terminate at any time with one year's notice, or only after the initial 5-year term.
The CRTC ruled against Rogers based on comma placement. The difference over the contract term: approximately $2.13 million.
ContractKen catches: termination clause structure and conditional language
Litigation Triggered

Labyrinth v. Urich (Delaware)

A stock purchase agreement referenced "Section 7.5" in the signature block and "Section 10.12" in the exclusive remedy provision. Neither section existed. Likely from clause renumbering during drafting.
The court compared the confusion to "the misunderstood orders that led to the disastrous Charge of the Light Brigade." Full factual inquiry required to resolve the ambiguity.
ContractKen catches: broken cross-references and section existence validation
Meaning Inverted

Environmental Indemnity (Canada, 2021)

An environmental indemnity clause contained "do" where "do not" was intended. A single missing word completely inverted the indemnification obligation.
The court corrected the error under the "obvious error" doctrine, but only after costly litigation to prove the parties' intent.
ContractKen catches: placeholder and completion checks flag potential omissions
90%
of "proofread" docs from top UK law firms still contained errors
1 in 8
malpractice insurance claims involve document drafting errors
33%
of lawyers skip proofreading entirely due to time pressure
1/3
of all settlement payments stem from drafting error claims
Six Categories of Checks

What ContractKen's Proofing Engine Catches

Each check targets a specific category of contract error that standard spell-checkers and grammar tools cannot detect.

Defined Terms: Find, Verify, Navigate

ContractKen scans the entire document and builds a map of every defined term: where it's defined, every location where it's used, and whether the usage is consistent.

  • Lists all defined terms with their definitions and usage locations
  • Flags terms that are used but never formally defined
  • Flags terms that are defined but never used (dead definitions)
  • Detects inconsistent capitalization (e.g., "Confidential Information" vs. "confidential information")
  • Click any term to jump directly to its location in the document
An undefined defined term creates genuine legal ambiguity. Courts have ruled that terms used without definition are open to interpretation by either party.
ContractKen defined terms list and navigation

Cross-References: Every Link Verified

When a contract says "as set forth in Section 4.2" or "subject to the limitations in Clause 7(b)", ContractKen validates that the referenced section actually exists and contains relevant content.

  • Detects references to sections that were deleted or renumbered during drafting
  • Identifies orphaned references left behind from copy-paste editing
  • Validates schedule and exhibit references
  • Click any broken reference to jump to its location
In Labyrinth v. Urich, broken cross-references to non-existent sections forced a full factual inquiry into the parties' intent. The judge compared the situation to "the misunderstood orders that led to the Charge of the Light Brigade."
ContractKen cross-reference validation

Monetary Values: Consistency Across the Document

ContractKen extracts every monetary reference in the contract and presents them in a single view for verification. It flags discrepancies between numerical and written-out amounts, inconsistent currency formats, and values that appear different in different sections.

  • Extracts all monetary values with their clause locations
  • Flags mismatches between figures and words (e.g., "$1,000,000" vs. "one million five hundred thousand")
  • Detects inconsistent currency formats across the document
  • Highlights amounts referenced in multiple sections for cross-verification
A $500,000 discrepancy between the recitals and the payment schedule is the kind of error that survives three rounds of review because each reviewer focuses on individual sections, not cross-document consistency.
ContractKen monetary value consistency check

Dates & Numbers: Extracted and Cross-Checked

Every date, notice period, deadline, and numerical reference in the contract is extracted into a centralized view. This makes it easy to verify that effective dates, termination dates, and notice periods are consistent throughout.

  • Extracts all dates with their clause locations
  • Flags dates that appear inconsistent (e.g., "January 15, 2026" in one section, "February 15, 2026" in another for the same event)
  • Identifies notice periods and deadline calculations
  • Highlights numerical values (percentages, day counts, quantities) for review
ContractKen date and number extraction

Placeholders & TODOs: Nothing Goes Out Incomplete

During drafting, contracts accumulate brackets, placeholders, internal notes, and TODO markers. ContractKen finds all of them before the contract goes to the counterparty.

  • Detects bracketed text ([INSERT NAME], [TBD], [AMOUNT])
  • Finds TODO comments and internal drafting notes
  • Identifies highlighted text left from review cycles
  • Flags empty sections or sections with placeholder content
Sending a contract with "[INSERT PARTY NAME]" still in the signature block happens more often than any firm wants to admit. It signals carelessness to the counterparty and can delay deal timelines.
ContractKen placeholder detection

Audit Reports: Documented Quality Assurance

After running proofing checks, ContractKen generates a downloadable audit report summarizing everything that was checked, what was found, and what was resolved. These reports serve as a documented record of due diligence.

  • Export as Word or Excel format
  • Customizable checklists by contract type
  • Tracks which issues were resolved and which remain open
  • Historical reports stored for compliance and audit trails
  • Useful for partner review sign-off and client-facing quality documentation
ContractKen audit report generation
The Blind Spot

What Spell-Check and Grammar Tools Miss

Standard tools catch language errors. Contract proofing catches structural errors. These are different problems requiring different tools.

Word Spell-Check

Language Errors

  • ✓ Misspelled words
  • ✓ Basic grammar
  • × Undefined defined terms
  • × Broken cross-references
  • × Monetary inconsistencies
  • × Date discrepancies
  • × Leftover placeholders
  • × Contract structure
Grammarly / AI Grammar

Writing Quality

  • ✓ Grammar and style
  • ✓ Sentence clarity
  • ✓ Tone suggestions
  • × Undefined defined terms
  • × Broken cross-references
  • × Monetary inconsistencies
  • × Legal-specific formatting
  • × Playbook compliance
ContractKen Proofing

Contract Integrity

  • ✓ Defined term consistency
  • ✓ Cross-reference validation
  • ✓ Monetary value consistency
  • ✓ Date and number extraction
  • ✓ Placeholder detection
  • ✓ Audit report generation
  • ✓ Works inside Word
  • ✓ Moderation Layer privacy
These tools complement each other. Spell-check catches typos. Grammarly catches awkward phrasing. ContractKen catches the structural and logical errors that create legal risk: the undefined term, the broken reference, the inconsistent dollar figure. Run all three. The first two are table stakes. The third prevents lawsuits.
Where Proofing Fits

The Last Quality Gate Before Signing

Proofing sits between substantive review and counterparty delivery. It's the contract equivalent of a pilot's pre-flight checklist: mechanical verification that everything is structurally sound.

✍

Draft

Generate from precedent or term sheet

→
🔍

Review

Check substance against playbook

→
✅

Proof

Verify structural integrity

→
📤

Send

Deliver to counterparty

One Tool, Complete Workflow

Teams already using ContractKen for playbook-driven review and precedent-based drafting get formatting proofing in the same Word pane, the same session, the same tool. No switching between Spellbook for clause review and Litera for proofreading. Draft, review, proof, and send from a single add-in.

Run It After Every Edit Cycle

Counterparty sends a markup. You apply redlines. Sections get renumbered. Definitions shift. Cross-references break silently. Run the proofing check after every round of edits to catch the structural damage that each iteration introduces. It takes seconds, and it prevents the errors that manual review consistently misses.

How It Compares

Contract Proofing Tools Compared

Dedicated proofing tools offer deep formatting checks. AI review tools offer substantive analysis. ContractKen is the first to deliver both in a single Word add-in with privacy protection.

Word Spell-CheckDedicated Proofing (Litera, Definely)AI Review (Spellbook, CoCounsel)ContractKen
Defined terms checking×✓ Deep× Partial✓ Deep
Cross-reference validation×✓×✓
Monetary consistency×Partial×✓
Placeholder/TODO detection×✓×✓
Audit reports×✓×✓
Playbook-driven review××✓✓
AI clause analysis××✓✓
Redline generation××✓✓
Privacy / Moderation Layer×××✓
Works inside Word✓✓Some✓
Additional tool requiredN/ASeparate licenseSeparate licenseIncluded
Formatting proofing is included in all ContractKen plans at no additional cost. No separate license, no separate tool.

Frequently Asked Questions

Six categories: undefined or inconsistently used defined terms, broken cross-references to sections that were deleted or renumbered, monetary value discrepancies across the document, date and number inconsistencies, leftover placeholders and TODO markers, and structural formatting issues. These are contract-specific errors that standard spell-checkers and grammar tools cannot detect.
Word's Find function searches for text you already know to look for. ContractKen scans the entire document and surfaces issues you might not know exist: a defined term used on page 47 that was never formally defined, a cross-reference to "Section 7.5" that was renumbered to 8.3 during editing, or a dollar amount stated differently in the recitals and the payment schedule. It gives you a structured summary panel with one-click navigation to each issue.
Yes. Proofing runs in the same ContractKen sidebar as playbook-driven review, clause analysis, and drafting. Many teams run a substance review first (checking clauses against the playbook) and then a formatting check as a final quality gate before sending the contract to the counterparty.
Yes. Formatting and proofing tools are included in all ContractKen plans at no additional cost. You do not need a separate license or a separate proofreading tool.
Yes. ContractKen generates downloadable audit reports in Word or Excel format. The report summarizes all checks performed, issues found, and resolution status. Historical reports are stored for compliance records, partner sign-off, or client-facing quality documentation.
The Moderation Layer protects your document content during analysis. Confidential information is masked before any text is processed externally. No raw contract text is retained after the proofing check completes.
Yes. The proofing engine is designed for complex commercial contracts. Whether it's a 5-page NDA or an 80-page M&A agreement with multiple schedules, the tool scans the entire document and organizes findings by category with one-click navigation to each issue location.

Works Even Better With

Review & Redlining

Run a full substantive review alongside formatting checks. Playbook compliance and structural integrity verified in the same session.
Learn about Review →

Draft

Run proofing after generating a draft from precedents. Catch formatting inconsistencies introduced during the drafting process.
Learn about Drafting →

Clause Library

When proofing finds an undefined defined term, insert the correct clause from your 700+ clause library without leaving the sidebar.
Explore Clause Library →
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ContractKen 2026. All rights reserved

ContractKen's contract formatting and proofing tool is a Microsoft Word add-in that automatically identifies defined term inconsistencies, broken cross-references, monetary value discrepancies, date and number errors, and leftover placeholders in legal documents. It generates downloadable audit reports for compliance documentation. Unlike general spell-checkers, it understands contract-specific formatting conventions and catches the structural errors that create legal risk in signed agreements. Included in all ContractKen plans alongside AI-powered contract review, drafting, and playbook enforcement.