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The Court of Appeal has made an additional finding of negligence against leading London law firm Withers over its drafting of an LLP agreement and increased the £1.6m in damages awarded in the High Court by a further £375,000.

Barristers need to resist pressure from big clients and government departments to agree not to act against them in the future if they want instructions, the Bar Council has said. It said it would be “professionally improper” to agree to such a condition.

Documents drawn up by Clifford Chance for a special RBS committee dealing with the LIBOR scandal are protected by legal advice privilege, the High Court has decided, saying that lawyers must have able to give clients “candid factual briefings” as well as legal advice.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority has closed a host of law firms in recent weeks, including two London firms on the grounds of suspected dishonesty.

Artificial intelligence and associated technologies do not necessarily spell universal doom and gloom for the legal profession, Legal Futures’ latest Insight publication has found. They might also assist lawyers to expand their services, supply them more cheaply, and create new, different kinds of employment for legal professionals.

The slow pace of change in the legal profession means it is “not surprising” to see new types of firms, with completely different business models, winning market share, an authoritative survey has found, adding that “the market is ripe for change”.

There are “no strong brands yet” to advise small businesses on legal services and law firms tend to “look the same”, Mark Edwards, vice president and general manager of Rocket Lawyer UK, has said. Mr Edwards said innovation was “not happening as much as it should be” in the legal market.

The ‘Big Four’ accountants are proving “intense competition” for mid-tier law firms and “quietly” taking the more commoditised work away from them, the head of legal services at RBS has said, predicting that the accountants will move on to compete with bigger firms.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has halved its budget for appeals from alternative business structures, as it has yet to receive one since the Solicitors Regulation Authority started licensing them in 2012.

Kathryn Stone, a police complaints commissioner, is to become chief ombudsman at the Legal Ombudsman in January next year. The appointment comes at a time when new figures put LeO under further pressure from the Legal Services Board over deteriorating performance against its targets.