The International Lawyer’s Profession

Authorisation, specialisation and defining the field of work

In Brazil, using the title advogado and performing reserved legal activities are subject to OAB registration and Law No. 8.906/1994, particularly Articles 1, 3 and 8. Academic training in international law develops skills but does not replace that authorisation. Advertising a specialty also requires support: Article 3(III) of Provision No. 205/2021 refers to a certified qualification or recognised specialist expertise, rather than merely adopting a term in one’s professional name.

Choosing broader practice or concentration on a particular field should reflect the problems the professional proposes to address. One client base may require coordination of contracts, taxation and corporate matters; another may demand depth in family or succession relationships with foreign elements. Breadth of communication does not imply mastery of every discipline, just as thematic concentration does not dispense with understanding the interfaces determining jurisdiction, applicable law, evidence and the effectiveness of acts.

The proposition that the market is saturated, common in career discussions, does not establish a niche’s financial advantage. Identify the services sought, performance requirements, available capacity and the cost of maintaining quality. That is an assessment of professional organisation, distinct from empirical claims about growth in vacancies, average remuneration or firms’ market shares, which require documented research.

Trend report: the historical record of the author’s classifications

The earlier version presented a trend report intended for 2024 and stated that 123 professionals from different legal occupations had been consulted, including lawyers, academics, judges, prosecutors, public employees and public-sector counsel. The preserved material contains no questionnaire, response dataset, selection criteria, sample distribution or method permitting replication. It is therefore a classification attributed to the text itself, rather than official statistics or a validated projection for today’s market.

The table preserves the historical version’s 47 entries and their classifications. Rising, stable, declining and their intensifications express the assessments published there; they do not establish practitioner numbers, growth in demand or earnings prospects. Nor should a uniform hierarchy be inferred between categories overlapping substantive fields, organisational forms and technological tools.

The original reference to macroeconomic changes and differences from the previous year remains as context for that assessment. Without comparable series and verifiable criteria, it does not establish causation between economic conditions, graduate numbers and international opportunities. Responsible use of the table is historical and critical: it identifies the diversity of subjects then recognised and supports questions for current research, without presenting its classifications as present facts.

International law and the international lawyer’s profession

Banking transactions, acquisitions, corporate reorganisations and disputes across several jurisdictions may require large teams, complementary specialties and coordination between legal systems. That need helps explain the participation of larger organisations, but does not reserve all international matters to major firms or establish that independent practice is unviable. The appropriate structure follows from scope, risk, workload and the authorisations required in each place.

Smaller companies, investors, commercial representatives and individuals may also raise matters with foreign connections. Imports and exports, contracts, representation, family relationships, criminal defence and taxation are possible areas of demand where the relevant international element exists. A foreign client’s origin does not automatically turn every service into an international-law dispute or dispense with knowledge of the domestic subject involved.

For someone starting a career, the useful question is which deliverables can responsibly be provided and which stages require supervision or cooperation. Entry opportunities are not a guarantee of clients. Nor can one presume that every low-value matter is simple, that major firms charge disproportionately or that a government’s political direction guarantees future investor inflows. Those propositions would require data absent from the article.

Professional relationships depend on consistent work and communication compatible with professional ethics. OAB Provision No. 205/2021 permits legal marketing within its limits, requiring truthful information and prohibiting solicitation and commercialisation. Digital presence, content production and communication with colleagues must be assessed on that basis, without promises of results or inducement to engage services.

Practice areas: what does an international lawyer do?

A connection with another jurisdiction may arise from the parties’ location, performance of an obligation, a family’s residence, the location of assets or the need for effects outside the country. The work identifies that connection and its consequences: where to act, which rules to examine, which authority has responsibility, how to obtain evidence and how a judgment or document can be used in another legal system.

The table’s variety of subjects does not mean that one professional personally offers every listed service. Direct work must match actual authorisation and competence; cooperation with specialists requires defined responsibilities, confidentiality and adequate client information. Assisting a Brazilian with interests abroad and a foreign national in Brazil may require different arrangements even where similar problems arise.

A specific regulatory distinction also applies: OAB Provision No. 91/2000 governs foreign-law consultancy in Brazil by authorised professionals. That authorisation is confined to the law of the country or state of origin and excludes Brazilian-law advice and representation in court. An international network or foreign brand does not remove that separation; Brazilian registration likewise does not displace the rules of the country where the professional intends to act.

Training, remuneration and receiving fees from abroad

Education and experience

Sound undergraduate education, continued study and supervised experience support professional development. Postgraduate study, master’s degrees and doctorates have their own academic purposes; their usefulness depends on content and the intended practice. They are not universally compulsory stages of registration as an international lawyer, just as a course abroad does not itself confer professional authorisation in the host jurisdiction.

Language proficiency should match the sources, interlocutors and expected deliverables. English is widely used internationally, but is neither a general statutory requirement for OAB registration nor sufficient alone for communicating every case. Exchanges, courses and work in larger teams may contribute to training; they should not be presented as universal entry conditions or substitutes for actual legal experience.

Salary, professional revenue and fees

A traineeship stipend, an employed lawyer’s salary, remuneration under an association arrangement and independent practice revenue are different measures. The old version’s minimum-wage ranges and hourly dollar figures lacked a source, collection period, workload, region or comparable contractual arrangement. They therefore provide no current remuneration benchmark, professional minimum or service offer. Gross receipts likewise are not the provider’s net earnings.

Article 22 of the Legal Profession Statute distinguishes agreed fees, judicially assessed fees and fees awarded against the unsuccessful party. For engagements, the Code of Ethics and Discipline, particularly Articles 48 and 49, requires clarity about scope and remuneration and guides moderate fees according to importance, complexity, work, time and other stated factors. The competent state section’s rules and schedule must be considered; client nationality and payment currency do not establish a uniform international tariff.

Hourly billing and fixed fees are contractual models that must reflect scope. The former calls for defining records, chargeable activities and verification; the latter, included stages, expansions in scope and expenses. Timesheets do not replace defining the service, and neither model supports presumptions of unlimited earnings dependent solely on attracting clients.

Client service, invoices and documentation

Working across time zones requires agreement on language, channels, availability and urgent matters. Weekly, fortnightly or monthly reports can be tailored to the engagement; they do not follow automatically from the client’s foreign status. Predictable communication better supports performance than an indiscriminate promise of availability at any hour.

An invoice describes the charges; a timesheet is relevant where the agreed model requires it. Those records must correspond to the engagement and work performed, without being confused with tax documents required by applicable law. Article 52 of the Code of Ethics governs fee invoices and their limits; the client’s terminology does not alter the professional nature of the billing.

Foreign exchange and tax classification

Law No. 14.286/2021 must inform assessment of international payments. Article 13 sets out circumstances permitting foreign-currency denomination, including obligations with a non-resident creditor or debtor on the stated terms. Reference currency, settlement arrangements, conversion and cost allocation require clear determination rather than an assumption that every contract will be billed in dollars.

Incoming funds require checking the authorised institution and channel, transaction identification, relevant documentation, agreed rate and costs. Legislation does not support a blanket conclusion that all service-export receipts require immediate conversion and credit to a domestic account: Article 26 of Law No. 14.286/2021 amended Law No. 11.371/2006 to permit export proceeds to remain abroad on the statutory conditions. The concrete choice must respect the applicable regime, without indiscriminate recommendations of an account or provider.

The payment’s foreign origin does not independently determine tax treatment. For ISS, Article 2(I) and the sole paragraph of Complementary Law No. 116/2003 distinguish exports from services performed in Brazil whose result occurs there, even where payment comes from a resident abroad. Other taxes depend on the transaction, taxpayer and relevant regime; the analysis cannot be reduced to a single percentage charged by the Receita Federal or automatic classification of every fee as an export.

Research and developing a practice

Lower communication barriers expand coordination opportunities without eliminating regulatory borders, procedural differences or performance costs. Developing a practice requires translating a broad field of interests into defined services, demonstrable competence, documentation and suitable client arrangements. Market research, where used, should disclose date, population, method and limits; a working library requires official sources and monitoring of relevant changes.

Official sources

• Law No. 8.906/1994, Articles 1, 3, 8, 10 and 22: legal activities, registration and fees.
• OAB Provision No. 91/2000: foreign-law consultancy in Brazil.
• OAB Provision No. 205/2021: professional information, specialties and advertising.
• OAB Code of Ethics and Discipline, particularly Articles 39–49 and 52: communication, engagement and billing.
• Law No. 14.286/2021, particularly Articles 13, 14 and 26: foreign exchange and international payments.
• Complementary Law No. 116/2003, Article 2: relevant boundaries of service exports for ISS purposes.

Related reading

Training and authorisation questions are examined in International Legal Practice: How to Specialise? Entry and development choices are addressed in A Career in International Law — International Lawyer; client service and billing organisation are explored in THE INTERNATIONAL LAWYER’S PROFESSION. The broader repertoire also appears in 18 Questions and Answers on International Law.