Continuous improvement (CI) is very fashionable in management circles, but the heavy use of management-speak can make it difficult for non-CI specialists to understand. You should not be deterred as the principles of CI can be applied to legal teams to create greater efficiency. This Practice Note attempts to strip out as much jargon as possible, demonstrate how it applies to in-house lawyers, and illustrate the concepts involved by way of a case study. What is CI? The definition of CI is often over complicated and buried in jargon, but it means exactly what it says, ie continually looking for ways to improve processes, methods and procedures. The aim is to: • remove blockages • make processes as efficient as possible • save time and money Improvements do not have to be major changes; several small but effective changes (often referred to as ‘marginal gains’) soon add up. CI tools and methods can help you fix processes that are no longer effective, and allow you to review processes that may appear to

The term ‘contract management’ will mean one thing to your organisation and something slightly different to you as in-house lawyer. Unfortunately, you need to understand both meanings to fulfil your role within your organisation. To your organisation, contract management means the process of procuring goods or services, starting with the definition of needs and the selection of the right supplier, continuing into the nitty gritty of commercial negotiation and on to documentation. For some organisations, the lengthy task of drafting and agreeing the documents can be something of an after-thought to be delegated to the lawyer. Then, of course, once the deal is done and the documents have been signed, the intricacies of administering the contract and ensuring proper performance and compliance begin. Again, these tasks can be given a low importance until things start to go wrong and the legal team is called on to do something to help. As in-house lawyer, you will need to be involved to a greater or lesser extent in all the steps your organisation takes in its contract management

Cookie syncing Cookies are small text files that collect certain pieces of information about online users. Each time a user visits a new website, cookies are created and saved onto the user's computer. The cookies will help the website to remember certain things such as the pages that user accessed or the content they viewed. There are several distinct types of cookie: • first-party cookies are created by the website we visit directly. They are cookies that help to deliver a good user experience. The limitation of first-party cookies is that they can only be read on the website or publisher's domain. They are essentially useless for advertising purposes on other websites • third-party cookies are collected by advertisers that can collect information when you use a website. Third-party trackers can also track user behaviour and use this to display adverts to the user when they visit different websites Cookies created by one third-party tracker cannot be read by another third party tracker. This restricts the amount

Whether a credit agreement is regulated depends on the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000), the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA 1974) and subordinate legislation and rules, particularly the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001, SI 2001/544 (RAO). The RAO contains numerous exemptions that turn on the agreement’s type and main features, so it important to identify the relevant agreement type. This Practice Note defines ‘credit’ and ‘regulated credit agreement’ and explains the scope of the RAO and CCA 1974, including which credit agreements fall within regulation. Meaning of credit under the CCA 1974 and the RAO For the credit limb of the consumer credit regime to apply to a transaction, it must involve credit. Separately, the regime also covers consumer hire agreements, which do not involve ‘credit’. CCA 1974, s 9(1) and RAO, SI 2001/544, art 60L(1) define ‘credit’ as meaning a cash loan and any other form of financial accommodation. CCA 1974, s 9 also provides that: • credit provided in a currency other than

What is credit support? Credit support is a means of a party reducing its credit risk on its counterparty. Credit support arrangements are also known as 'financial collateral arrangements', 'margin arrangements', 'collateralisation' and 'credit enhancement'. One party (or both parties) will deliver, or otherwise make available, assets (known as collateral or margin) to the other party (the collateral or margin taker) to secure or support its present or future obligations. In the event the credit support provider defaults, the collateral taker can rely on the collateral provided by the defaulting party to secure any debt outstanding. Collateral may be provided by one party only (ie where one party is higher rated than the other, it may take collateral) or may be provided by both parties. Collateral in this context refers to the assets that are provided under a credit support arrangement. These are usually: • cash, or • securities What are the benefits of using credit support? There are many

Main concept The basic premise of crowdfunding is that, rather than targeting a few select investors to finance a project, entrepreneurs instead seek to raise the required funds in smaller denominations but from a larger audience, which they reach via social media. In most platforms, the money pledged to a particular project is not released unless the project succeeds in reaching its predefined financial target within a given time limit. There are typically three variations of crowdfunding model: • the donations model • the lending model • the investment or equity model For a comprehensive look at the various types of crowdfunding and the related legal issues see Practice Note: The UK regulation of crowdfunding platforms—essentials. UK regulatory regime The various crowdfunding models are treated differently by the UK financial services regime. Donations model: The donations model currently falls outside the scope of the regime since it does not involve a return on financial investment. Lending model: The lending model is also not currently within the scope of the regime but' depending

Decennial insurance is insurance that can be taken out by those responsible for the design and construction of buildings to cover the costs associated with the total or partial collapse of a building after completion or the discovery of latent/structural defects that compromise the building's safety or stability. Decennial liability originated in France in the early 1800s and has been enshrined in the French Civil Code ever since. The name derives from the fact that it imposed a ten-year liability, after completion of a project, on contractors and designers responsible for the design and construction of a building. Decennial liability acknowledges that the costs arising out of the complete or partial collapse of a building could be huge and may not be covered by other insurances. Cover under this type of insurance can include not just reinstatement of the building but also loss of use and/or loss of profits. Decennial liability is typically a form of strict liability, ie no proof is required of any negligence, mistake or fault on the part of the contractor

Dynamic pricing is a pricing strategy where the price of a product or service fluctuates rapidly in response to real-time market demand. This is generally managed by automated software which collects data and uses algorithms to adjust the price according to the business rules, which may consider factors such as time, location and demand. Consumers may have the ability to reserve or ‘lock-in’ initially advertised prices during the purchasing process, but this is not always the case. This approach is designed to optimise revenue for the seller. For example, the restaurant industry uses dynamic pricing to attract customers during quieter periods by offering time-sensitive pricing. See Wootliff v Rushton-Turner. Similarly, dynamic pricing technology has been used in the concert ticket industry, such as in the well-publicised sale of Oasis concert tickets which was subsequently investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) (see: LNB News 25/03/2025 31). In England and Wales, dynamic pricing is not inherently unlawful. However, it carries significant legal risks, particularly in ensuring compliance with consumer protection

Save in particular circumstances, a public body cannot prevent itself from properly considering the exercise of its discretion in individual cases. While it may permissibly have guidance or a policy on how it will ordinarily exercise its discretion, it must usually operate any such guidance or policy in a flexible manner. In British Oxygen Co Ltd v Minister of Technology at para [625], Lord Reid famously stated: ‘The general rule is that anyone who has to exercise a statutory discretion must not “shut his ears to an application”…What the authority must not do is to refuse to listen at all.’ When is it an actionable ground of challenge? The starting point is Lord Reid’s analysis in British Oxygen. Whenever a public body operates an inflexible policy, it is susceptible to challenge: • over-rigid policy: Even where a policy is operated flexibly, it may be applied in an overly-rigid manner.

It is in the context of the old advance corporation tax regime that FII is most often referred to, not least because of the very long running case called the FII Group Litigation Order. However, it does continue to be relevant because it can impact on the tax rate applicable. What is franked investment income? A UK resident company has franked investment income (FII) if it: • has income which consists of a distribution (for which, see: Scope of distributions for tax purposes), and • is entitled to a tax credit in respect of that distribution A UK resident company is entitled to a tax credit if the distribution in question is: • a qualifying distribution (which is broadly any distribution, whether made by a UK or non-UK resident company, other than certain distributions connected with the issue of redeemable shares or securities, for which, see: Paragraphs C and D—Redeemable share capital and securities), and • exempt from tax under the rules in Corporation Tax Act 2009, Part 9A (for

This Practice Note considers fundamental dishonesty both in the context of section 57 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 (CJCA 2015) and the loss of qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) protection under CPR 44.16. The term ‘fundamental dishonesty’ is referred to in both CJCA 2015, s 57 and CPR 44.16(1): • CJCA 2015, s 57 allows for an entire personal injury claim to be dismissed, including any genuine elements, on the basis that the claimant has been fundamentally dishonest in relation to the primary claim or a related claim • CPR 44.16(1) provides an exception to QOCS protection by allowing costs orders to be enforced to their full extent in fundamental dishonesty cases However, as the term ‘fundamental dishonesty’ is not defined in CJCA 2015 or the CPR, its meaning and scope have therefore developed through judicial decisions in personal injury and clinical negligence cases. For a look at the case law to date on fundamental dishonesty, see Practice Note: Fundamental dishonesty—case tracker. For more information on CJCA 2015,

Landlords are often obliged in service charge provisions to manage a property in accordance with ‘the principles of good estate management’. These principles do not appear to be decisively defined anywhere and are generally vague, but it is commonly understood that they mean the landlord must act in the best interests of the property and must manage the property well, efficiently and diligently. The principles are not mentioned in the RICS Service Charge Code. There are various cases in which the principles of good estate management have been contemplated. For example: • in Capita Trust Co v Chatham Marine Developments, the court found that not granting a lease to an anchor tenant (in this case Marks and Spencer) in