Negotiated terms such as price, payment dates, liability limits, and termination rights will always get the closest attention, and they should. But a contract can get the big decisions right and still run into trouble over a small mistake.
A wrong section number or a note left over from an old draft can slip through several rounds of review. These errors are easy to miss because they look like routine text.
By the final read, reviewers may also know the contract so well that they skim familiar sections instead of catching details that need a second look.
Late Edits and Familiar Text Hide Errors From Reviewers
Contracts go through many rounds of edits before anyone signs. Each side marks up the draft, and redlines can change sections or rewrite terms. Those rounds slow the contract phase of a sales deal.
Deadline pressure near signing is one reason errors slip through. Familiarity makes the problem worse. A reviewer who has read a clause five times starts to see what they expect.
Reused templates also cause trouble, because language from an old deal can carry over names and dates that belong to another party.
Software now handles part of this check. Spellbook for AI contract review ...