Salaries for lawyers in Australia will continue to rise in 2020, particularly in litigation, banking, construction and M&A, legal recruitment firm Beacon Legal said in a report.

"Our clients have reported strong work pipelines going into 2020 which will continue to create job opportunities for lawyers to move laterally," the firm said.

The report, "Private Practice Salary and Market Report 2020," said tough competition to secure talented lawyers will continue to increase.

"With a number of firms offering high salaries, even at a junior level, this forces the hand of other firms to do the same or risk missing out on candidates," the report said.

Demand for lawyers with three-to-six years of post-qualification experience, in particular, is expected to outstrip supply and cause a price war for in-demand lawyers.

The legal recruiter said 2019 saw record-level salaries in several practice areas, such as A$120,000 (US$82,000) for a litigation lawyers with two years' experience; A$160,000 (US$109,000) for a project finance practitioner with seven years' experience; and A$300,000 (US$205,000) for a special counsel in construction.

Litigation was the busiest practice area in 2019, Beacon said.

"The market demand for litigators has grown significantly over the past year and recruitment has remained constantly high. This is a trend we expect to continue into 2020, with a number of firms establishing ongoing recruitment drives for their disputes practices for the foreseeable future," the firm said.

The Banking Royal Commission, as well as increased regulation within financial services and the need by banks for more legal services to protect themselves from disputes, were the main drivers.

The construction sector was also strong thanks to government-sponsored infrastructure projects.