The size of the average in-house legal team across EMEA countries has increased by a third over the past year, according to research from legal recruiter Laurence Simons.

Internal legal departments now comprise 16 lawyers on average, up from 12 in 2013 and 10 in 2012. Over a quarter of departments said they have already recruited externally in 2014, and two thirds expect their team will increase further in size over next two years.

None of the 107 legal departments polled anticipated a fall in headcount by 2016.

The poll, which included departments across a range of industries including life sciences, technology, telecommunications, banking, manufacturing, engineering and retail, indicates that the expansion of in-house legal teams is being driven by rising internal budgets, with 45% of departments expecting internal spend to grow over the next year.

It also points to an increase in specific areas of specialism such as taxation, with the number of internal departments carrying out tax work doubling from 8% to 16% between 2012 and 2014.

In-house teams remain primarily focused on corporate and commercial activity though, which is now practiced by 87% of internal departments, compared with 86% in 2013.

Worldwide, the average legal department has grown in size by 57% in the past two years, increasing from 35 lawyers in 2012, to 52 in 2013 and reaching 55 this year.

Naveen Tuli, managing director of Laurence Simons, said: "These findings suggest the recession still lies in the back of employers' minds when it comes to outsourcing legal work, which is reflected in a continued shift towards expanding and investing in in-house legal teams.

"Many firms are choosing to take a long term perspective by hiring more internal staff and increasing legal expenditure, rather than send out work to private practices. From a budgetary standpoint, fixed workforces allow for greater stability when it comes to planning and forecasting compared to the ad-hoc casework often carried out by law firms."