The article is devoted to the study of changes in the structure and textual organization of contracts that have occurred over time. The author considers these changes as a marker of the evolution of the legal language. In the context of increasing social activity of the population, differentiation of branches of law and trends in the general democratization of the language, there is a need to increase the accessibility of legal norms to a wide audience. Legal contracts are traditionally characterized by a high degree of formalism, lexical and syntactic complexity, which significantly complicates their perception. The study highlights the problem of simplifying the structure and textual organization of contracts, linking it with the need to increase legal literacy of the population and reduce legal risks for citizens. The results of the study expand the theoretical base of legal linguistics, in particular, the theory of linguistic simplification and are of practical importance for lawyers, translators and anyone who deals with contracts in English.