The ‘war for talent’ is hotting up in the in-house sector, with companies increasingly entering into a bidding war for candidates, according to recruitment firm Badenoch & Clark.

The recruiter’s executive director Lynne Hardman said that recruitment is also picking up in the banking sector and among criminal defence firms.

She said: ‘Counter offering is becoming more commonplace in the in-house legal market as the war for talent heats up.

'Employers are having to negotiate harder to get a candidate hired, and this is creating upward pressure on salaries.’

In private practice, Hardman said figures for the start of 2011 indicated that City firms were moving away from using temporary staff to cover workloads, in favour of permanent hires, as a result of stronger ‘business confidence’.

She added: ‘Confidence is returning to the banking sector.

'Banks are demanding additional headcount as they seek to manage the increase in transactional activity, and also deal with additional regulatory reporting requirements.’

The recruitment firm said it had also seen an upsurge in demand for duty solicitors at criminal defence firms, due to Legal Services Commission deadlines.

Hardman said: ‘Demand for duty criminal solicitors is on the rise as criminal law firms rush to submit their CDS12 applications ahead of the 6 May deadline.’

She added that although there was little recruitment within central government, some associations and trade bodies that were ‘less bound to central government’ were still recruiting.