‎Brazil News

 

 

The 1st Section of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ), within the scope of repetitive appeals (Theme 1,179), decided that the sectional councils of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) cannot demand annual payment from law firms. For the collegiate, the annual fee is intended for individuals registered with the OAB, such as lawyers and interns, a different condition from the law firm, which registers with the OAB exclusively to acquire legal personality. Read the ruling in REsp 2.015.612.

 

Furthermore, registration does not grant the company the right to carry out the exclusive activities of lawyers, as stipulated in article 42 of the General Regulations of the Law and OAB Statute.

 

Special resources rapporteur, minister Gurgel de Faria understood that, as established in Law 8,906/1994, it is the responsibility of the OAB sectional council to determine, modify and receive the annual fees owed by members registered with the entity. On the other hand, based on the Law Statute, the minister considered that registration with the OAB as a lawyer or intern is restricted to individuals, without mentioning the possibility of registration for legal entities.

 

 

“Since the difference between the registration of a law firm and the registration of an individual to practice law is evident, the only possible interpretation of articles 46 and 58, item IX, of Law 8,906/1994 is that the sectional councils , bodies of the Brazilian Bar Association, in the exercise of their exclusive competence, cannot create and demand annual fees from law firms”.

 

With the establishment of the thesis, the processes that were suspended throughout the country, awaiting the definition of this qualified precedent, can resume their processing.