Your contract schema has a nullable effective_date. Spot checks show it comes back null for about 30% of contracts where the date actually appears, either in the signature block or in phrasing like "made this 3rd day of March, 2025." Contracts with a labelled "Effective Date:" line extract correctly. What is the most effective change?

Answer: B — Add few-shot examples showing correct effective_date extraction from contracts with varied structures, including signature-block and prose-style dates.

Few-shot examples showing correct extraction from documents with varied formats are what section 6 names for null extraction of fields that really are present. (a) would make the model fabricate dates on contracts that truly have none. (c) is a vague instruction that doesn't show the model the unfamiliar layouts. (d) would often pick up the wrong date, such as a reference to an earlier agreement or a printed form date.