Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

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Key definition

Waterfall definition

What does Waterfall mean? In legal practice, a waterfall is the order in which available funds are applied to debts when insolvency, enforcement or a payment default occurs. It describes who gets paid, in what sequence, and from which recoveries. ‘Waterfall’ is not a statutory term; it is a descriptive and contractual concept. The underlying order of priority may arise from legislation and case law (the statutory insolvency waterfall) or from contract (for example, in intercreditor agreements, security trust deeds and structured finance documents). Typical features include: specifying categories and sequencing; earmarking particular proceeds; and dealing with turnover, set-off and subrogation. In practice it allocates...

Agile software development contracts: drafting guidance on Scrum governance, backlogs and Definition of Done, with warranties, pricing models, termination and change control compared to waterfall

Published by a LexisNexis TMT expert

Practice notes

Agile software development approaches are now widespread within the IT industry and are increasingly recommended as a superior alternative to the traditional Waterfall development model. Nonetheless, contracting for Agile software development initiatives remains difficult. Many standard software development agreements were crafted for the waterfall approach and can be challenging to align with the principles that underpin Agile ways of working...

What is Agile?

‘Agile’ is a collective term covering a range of software development methods (including Scrum, Extreme Programming (XP), Crystal Clear and Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM)). A comprehensive review of these methods sits beyond the scope of this Practice Note. For further detail on how Agile development models function in practice, see Bird & Bird’s Position Paper: Contracting for Agile software development projects...

Waterfall v Agile Software Methodologies—key distinctions

The waterfall model

The hallmark of the waterfall model is its sequential character—software is developed through a single, linear process. The project is segmented into distinct phases (ie design, coding, testing and deployment), culminating in completion of the entire software on a single Delivery date, with each phase starting only...

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Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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