Show HN: Lexicon – Write legal contracts in Markdown

1 point

3 months ago

Lexicon is a plain-text format for legal contracts, built on standard Markdown. You write contracts using normal Markdown syntax with a few conventions — YAML front matter for parties and metadata, numbered lists for clause hierarchy, bold text for defined terms, anchor links for cross-references. The source file is valid Markdown that should render cleanly in GitHub, Obsidian, or whatever.

When you need production output, it can be compiled to .docx with automatic clause numbering (1, 1.1, (a), (i)), cross-reference resolution, defined term validation, cover pages, signature blocks and schedules.

I'm a lawyer who runs a small practice and does GC work for startups. Drafting contracts in Word is painful and I have always hated the workflow. Track changes can be deleted by anyone, version control is "Agreement_v4_FINAL_VLs_edits(2).docx" and now copy/paste to and from Claude is a pain.

I've been thinking about how to transition off Word and into text on and off for the better part of 7 or 8 years, and the possibility of opening my workflow up to "coding" agents has given me the push to actually finalize my work.

You can play with it here: https://play.lexicon.esq. If you want to compile to docx, you can use the tool here: https://github.com/RichEsq/lexicon-docx