Brazilian Lawyer Fee (OAB)

Brazilian lawyer fees (OAB) calculator

In Brazil, lawyer fees rest on two pillars: the Estatuto da Advocacia (Lei 8.906/1994) and the OAB fee tables (Tabela de Honorários) that each state OAB section publishes. Those tables list minimum reference values for the bread-and-butter services a lawyer handles, from a simple consultation to drafting contracts, family matters, criminal defence, labour and tax work. They do double duty. Clients get a sense of what to expect, and lawyers get a floor. Charge below it and you fall into aviltamento (undervaluing), which can land you in front of the ethics board.

Three main fee modalities exist. Contratuais are whatever you and the client write down and sign. Sucumbenciais are awarded by the court to the winning lawyer, and under CPC art. 85 they run from 10% to 20% of the judgement amount or the economic benefit obtained. Pro labore + êxito mixes a fixed retainer with a success fee. One wrinkle: clients who qualify for free legal aid under Lei 1.060/1950 don't pay sucumbenciais straight away, since the obligation stays suspended for up to 5 years.

Applications

Solo practitioners and firms reach for this when putting together a client proposal. Law students use it to make sense of how fees are built. Judges lean on it when arbitrating sucumbenciais under CPC 85 §2, and clients check that a quote actually respects the local OAB minimum. It's also a quick way to size up the success-fee share before you sign a contingency agreement.

FAQ

Is the OAB fee table mandatory? Think of it as a floor, not a fixed price. Go below it and you risk ethical proceedings; go above it and you're fine, provided the client agreed to the number in writing.

How are sucumbenciais calculated? Under CPC art. 85, the judge picks a percentage between 10% and 20%. It applies to the condemnation amount, or to the economic benefit, or, when neither fits, to the value of the cause. The choice weighs the lawyer's zeal, where the work was done and how complex it was.

Does each state have its own table? Yes. Each Seccional OAB (OAB-SP, OAB-RJ, OAB-MG and so on) keeps and updates its own table, so the same service can be priced differently from one state to the next.