A survey of in-house legal teams in the EMEA region shows that 65 per cent expect to increase their numbers over the next two years and none are expecting to decline. Research by legal recruiter Laurence Simons in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region (EMEA) has found that in-house teams have risen by 60 per cent in terms of numbers employed since 2010. Over 25 per cent have already taken on more staff in the first part of 2014 whilst one in three have increased their department size with the average size of a department standing at 16 lawyers.

Corporate work on the rise

 Corporate and commercial inhouse teams are on the rise whilst the number of in-house teams carrying out banking and capital markets work has remained stable. However, regulatory work is on the decline, down from 51 per cent last year to 43 per cent.