THE INTERNATIONAL LAWYER’S PROFESSION

An overview of the legal profession: the earlier record and its limits

The earlier version linked renewal of legal practice to the entry of graduates and the choice between broad practice and concentration on a specialty. It also attributed a decline in employment litigation to legislative changes and stated that research had followed a predetermined methodology. The preserved text does not provide the information needed to reproduce that research, distinguish perception from measurement or establish the asserted causation.

The table below preserves every classification published in that version, whose last recorded modification was on 24 May 2022. That date is not attributed to data collection, which was not identified. Its 44 entries contain 43 different labels because Agricultural Law appears twice. The descriptions of trends have not been converted into current statistics on practitioners, demand or remuneration.

For organising a practice, the table serves as a historical repertoire of subjects rather than a profitability index. Substantive fields, client types and forms of practice appear together without a demonstrated common metric. Reading it does not dispense with identifying the specific service, the requirements for its performance and the cost of maintaining the necessary structure.

The international lawyer’s profession and service structure

An engagement may involve an individual with interests outside Brazil, a company dealing with a foreign counterparty or a client from another country subject to Brazilian proceedings. Those situations do not share the same structure. Before setting the team and fees, identify the intended acts, relevant countries, known deadlines and sources requiring examination.

Banking transactions, acquisitions and extensive disputes may justify specialist teams and division of tasks. A defined consultation or a more limited procedure may call for a different structure. An organisation’s size does not itself determine service suitability, and modest economic value does not necessarily mean low complexity. Assessment should consider actual capacity and responsibility, avoiding both a blanket reservation of all international work to large firms and indiscriminate acceptance by teams lacking adequate support.

The possible participation of lawyers at the beginning of their careers must be related to supervision and the task’s nature. Services may include research, document review, communication with colleagues or legal work within the existing authorisation to practise. The earlier material provides no basis for promising client growth from government guidance or the generic presence of investors and small businesses.

Difficulties building a client base do not justify treating engagement as a commercial contest pursued by any means. OAB Provision No. 205/2021 requires objective, truthful information and prohibits solicitation, commercialisation and promises of results within its scope. The service structure must be communicated accurately, without converting expected demand into an assertion of professional superiority.

Practice areas: from subject matter to the engagement undertaken

Contracts, imports and exports, commercial representation, family matters, criminal law and taxation may require analysis of connections with several legal systems. That connection must be established. Not every entry in the table becomes international merely because a foreign national is involved, and a broad repertoire does not establish personal mastery of every subject.

The engagement must state which work will take place in Brazil and which depends on professionals or authorities abroad. Articles 1, 3 and 8 of Law No. 8.906/1994 establish Brazil’s regime for reserved legal activities and registration. Domestic authorisation is not a licence to provide every regulated service elsewhere; likewise, a foreign professional’s work in Brazil is not resolved solely by registration in the home country.

OAB Provision No. 91/2000 establishes specific authorisation for foreign-law consultancy, limited to the law of the country or state of origin and excluding Brazilian-law advice and representation in court. A collaborative network must respect that division and the rules applying in each place, defining responsibilities, communication, lawful information sharing and the extent of deliverables.

Article 48 of the OAB Code of Ethics and Discipline favours written engagement terms and requires clarity about scope, fees, payment and the extent of representation. In international services, those boundaries distinguish opinions, negotiation, representation and any coordination with third parties. Recommending documentation does not make a written contract a universal validity requirement for every consultation.

Training, salary and receiving fees from abroad

Qualifications for performing the work

Degrees, continuing education and experience should be assessed against the engagement undertaken. Specialist courses, master’s degrees and doctorates may deepen knowledge; they are neither a compulsory sequence for every international practice nor automatic authorisation to practise elsewhere. Advertising a specialty in Brazil must comply with Article 3(III) of Provision No. 205/2021, which requires a certified qualification or recognised specialist expertise.

Linguistic and cultural skills must support comprehension of sources and accurate communication of advice. English is useful in various settings, but is not a general statutory requirement for OAB registration. Study abroad and experience at a large firm are possible paths, not universal entry conditions. Training may take place in different structures, provided it produces actual competence and preserves professional boundaries.

Remuneration and engagement terms

Salary, traineeship stipend, remuneration under an association arrangement and fee revenue must be distinguished. The earlier ranges expressed in minimum wages and hourly dollar amounts did not identify a comparable sample, date, workload or working arrangement. Those figures cannot support current earnings expectations and do not constitute a minimum rate, professional fee schedule or a firm’s quotation.

Remuneration in independent practice also depends on overheads, expenses, work actually performed and applicable obligations. Turnover therefore cannot be presented as net income, and attracting clients is not the only element of financial organisation. Assessment must encompass capacity to perform, service continuity and risks assumed, without promises of unlimited earnings.

Article 22 of the Legal Profession Statute recognises agreed fees, judicially assessed fees and fees awarded against the unsuccessful party. For contractual fees, Articles 48 and 49 of the Code of Ethics regulate clarity and moderation, considering the stated circumstances and the competent OAB state section’s schedule. Engagement by a foreign client creates neither a worldwide tariff nor an exemption from Brazilian ethical rules.

A fixed fee requires defining the deliverables included and treatment of any expansion in scope. Hourly billing requires criteria for recording time, identifying activities and reporting to the client. The distinction matters for checking the work, rather than establishing one model’s superiority. Court costs, translations, travel and other professionals’ services must be addressed according to the agreement and applicable rules.

Client service and billing documentation

Different time zones and languages call for organised channels, designated contacts and procedures for urgent situations. Weekly, fortnightly or monthly reports may be agreed according to the work’s nature. The client’s nationality does not itself impose reporting intervals or permanent availability, nor justify assuming identical expectations among all foreign clients.

Invoices and timesheets have different functions. An invoice states the amount claimed; a timesheet details time and activities where relevant to the engagement. Those records must be consistent with scope and deliverables, without replacing any required tax document. Article 52 of the Code of Ethics contains specific rules and limits for fee invoices, which do not disappear through use of foreign terminology.

Currency, incoming funds and tax treatment

Payment denomination and settlement require separate consideration. Article 13 of Law No. 14.286/2021 permits obligations denominated in foreign currency in the circumstances listed, including those with a non-resident creditor or debtor, subject to its conditions. The contract should clarify currency, conversion timing and method, payment arrangements and costs, without presuming that every relationship with a foreign national falls within the same category.

Incoming funds require use of an authorised channel and the procedures relevant to the transaction. Exchange rates, charges and amounts actually received must be identified rather than characterised as invariably unfavourable. Nor should every export receipt be said to require immediate conversion into a Brazilian account: Article 26 of the same Law amended Law No. 11.371/2006 to permit export proceeds to remain abroad on the statutory terms.

Tax classification depends on the service and the taxpayer’s applicable regime. Article 2(I) and the sole paragraph of Complementary Law No. 116/2003 are particularly relevant to distinguishing, for ISS purposes, an export from a service performed in Brazil whose result occurs there, even where paid by someone resident abroad. Receipt from abroad does not establish an exemption, uniform liability or a single percentage payable to the Receita Federal.

Resources, monitoring and continuity of practice

A professional library must support the engagements undertaken: identified legislation and treaties, authorisation rules, institutional sources and research materials with their respective scopes. Its value depends on currency and how sources are used. Collecting documents or consulting a portal does not replace checking whether the instrument, authority and procedure correspond to the case.

Communication facilitates collaboration between countries, but services remain subject to particular legal regimes. Professional organisation should make those limits visible, allocate tasks and enable clients to understand the engagement’s scope. Continuity of practice follows from responsible performance and review of its conditions, without turning international mobility into a promise of prosperity.

Official sources

• Law No. 8.906/1994, Articles 1, 3, 8–10 and 22: authorisation to practise and fees.
• OAB Provision No. 91/2000: foreign-law consultancy.
• OAB Provision No. 205/2021: specialties, information and advertising.
• OAB Code of Ethics and Discipline, Articles 39–49 and 52: communication and engagement arrangements.
• Law No. 14.286/2021, Articles 13, 14 and 26: payments and foreign exchange.
• Complementary Law No. 116/2003, Article 2: classification of service exports for ISS purposes.

Related reading

Market data and economic models are explored further in The International Lawyer’s Profession. Entry options are addressed in A Career in International Law — International Lawyer. The training and authorisation pathway appears in International Legal Practice: How to Specialise?