Here's a question: instead of using expert systems to write a contract, could you just write a contract that refers to a form that can be filled out by someone without legal expertise?

For instance, instead of using an expert system to generate a contract that says "Alice will pay Bob $2000 a month in rent, plus utilities," you could write a contract that says "The party listed on line 1 of the attached form will pay the party listed on line 2 of the form the amount listed on line 3 of the form; if the checkbox on line 4 of the form is checked, then the first party will also pay for utilities."

Then the attached form could look something like this:

1. Name of tenant: _______

2. Name of landlord: ______

3. Amount of rent: $_____

4. [ ] Check here if tenant pays for utilities

That solution would seem to be much more efficient and transparent than using an expert system; essentially, the "templating" is being done by the judges and/or lawyers reading the contract, not by an expert system writing one.

Edit: of course any such contract might contain a lot of "conditional logic" that would only apply in very specific circumstances and thus would prove irrelevant for most users. But although the contract would be long, you'd only need to write it once, and there would only be one copy to maintain.