One or two firms have eased up on last year’s salary freezes but don’t expect  jaw-dropping bonuses anywhere in the realms of private practice this year. In-house is starting to look more promising though -  salary hunting associates who have been treading water since the credit crunch broke might even feel tempted to take a peek.

Legal Week: In-house legal salaries are beginning to increase once more, while recruitment activity is also returning to the sector, according to new research.

The survey, conducted by legal recruitment consultancy Robert Walters, states that lawyers working at investment banks are set to to see the most significant pay rises this year, with an average four-year post-qualified (4PQE) lawyer at an investment bank earning £90,000-£140,000 in 2010, as opposed to £85,000-£115,000 in 2009.

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So there you have it, in-house legal departments are taking advantage of a recruiters’ market to bolster their teams. But will they be hiring the best qualified for in-house work or the best looking?

The perennial debate about brains v beauty surfaces not infrequently in legal circles. More widely, there are plenty of stats to show good-lookers get the glory. So, with a glut of lawyers on the market, will employers hold out for beauty?

If it’s left to recruiters they might not have a choice…

Womens Health: Job recruiters have come to learn that sending aesthetically pleasing candidates gets a better reaction from their clients. “I’ll write ‘This person is attractive’ on the applicant’s cover letter before passing her on,” admits a professional who does hiring in the legal field. “Whether they admit it or not, many employers feel that having pretty female employees will reflect well on their firm.”

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Which doesn’t bode well for ugly real-estate lawyers. However, before your resign yourself to working in the back -office of a conveyancing factory, bear this in mind:

Although a 2009 Journal of Applied Psychology report found that handsome people do have an edge over their less comely counterparts with regard to salaries, it turns out that intelligence trumps all.