Property lawyers in Brazil: how to check an OAB registration

What a property lawyer does in a purchase

In a Brazilian purchase, a lawyer typically reads the documents and tells you what they mean for you. Depending on the case, that can include: the title search (the chain of ownership in the matrícula, the property record), the certificates on the seller and the property, the purchase agreement and deposit, the escritura pública (public deed) and the registration, and, for a buyer abroad, the power of attorney. Our guides explain these steps without advising on your case: matrícula, due diligence certificates, purchase agreement and deposit, the deed and power of attorney from abroad.

The statute reserves to lawyers the “atividades de consultoria, assessoria e direção jurídicas” (legal consulting, advice and direction) (art. 1, II). The notary who writes the deed and the registry officer are different people, with their own rules, and are not lawyers acting for you.

What the law says

The text of Lei 8.906 we read is the PDF published by the OAB, which cites laws up to 2016; it predates later amendments (Lei 14.365/2022), so it is not necessarily the text now in force. The Planalto page did not answer our requests.

• Art. 3: “O exercício da atividade de advocacia no território brasileiro e a denominação de advogado são privativos dos inscritos na Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil” (the practice of law in Brazil and the title of lawyer are reserved to those registered with the OAB).
• Art. 34, IV: it is a disciplinary infraction to “angariar ou captar causas, com ou sem a intervenção de terceiros” (solicit or capture cases, with or without the intervention of third parties); III forbids using a case agent in exchange for a share of the fees.
• Art. 58, V: each State section (Conselho Seccional) may “fixar a tabela de honorários, válida para todo o território estadual” (set the fee table, valid across the State).

How to check a lawyer

1. Ask the lawyer, in writing, for the OAB number and the State section (for example “OAB/UF”). The ethics code requires the lawyer’s professional advertising to carry the name and the OAB number (art. 44).
2. Open https://cna.oab.org.br/ yourself, typing the address. We could not read the form. The OAB’s application sheet for its mobile app (read earlier on 15 October 2026) lists the data shown as name, registration number, professional address, photo, telephone, associated firms and registration status; we did not re-read it today, and we did not test the web form.
3. Read the status of the registration, and compare the name and the number with those on the engagement letter and on any opinion.
4. Keep in mind the OAB’s own statement, from a 2005 news item that we re-read: “A consulta à disposição no site da OAB nacional é apenas informativa, não tendo validade como certidão.” (The consultation available on the national OAB site is only informative and has no validity as a certificate.) It is an old source; for a document that you must file, ask the State section.
5. If in doubt, write to the OAB section of the State with the name and number.

What the register’s terms say

No terms of use could be read for the CNA: the page did not render without JavaScript. We found no separate terms for the web register. Payotte copies no OAB data and publishes no list of lawyers.

Why Payotte lists no lawyers in Brazil

Payotte elsewhere shows one professional per trade and area. It does not do so for lawyers in Brazil, for these reasons, which we state as we read them and not as legal advice:

• Ethics code, art. 39: “A publicidade profissional do advogado tem caráter meramente informativo e deve primar pela discrição e sobriedade, não podendo configurar captação de clientela ou mercantilização da profissão.” (A lawyer’s professional advertising is purely informative, discreet and sober, and may not amount to soliciting clients or commercialising the profession.)
• Provimento 205/2021, art. 3: forbids, among other things, any “referência, direta ou indireta, a valores de honorários” (direct or indirect reference to fee amounts) as a way to attract clients, and “orações ou expressões persuasivas, de autoengrandecimento ou de comparação” (persuasive, self-praising or comparative expressions). We read the text of 2021; the OAB has discussed a revision, so check the current text.
• Federal Council, Ementa 086/2025/OEP (Diário Eletrônico, 19 December 2025, an answer to a consultation, judged on 12 November 2025): platforms “que intermedeiam a escolha de advogados por clientes em ambiente massificado” (that mediate clients’ choice of lawyers in a mass environment) are, “em tese” (in principle), unauthorised solicitation of clients and commercialisation of the profession.

A page that picks a firm per area, scores it and invites you to contact it would look like what these texts describe, so Payotte does not publish one. It names no firm, ranks none and relays no enquiry. If you need a list of lawyers, ask the State section of the OAB, or a lawyer you already know.

Which professional to consult

For a legal question about your purchase, a lawyer registered with the OAB is the professional. For the value of the property, property appraisers; for the loan, mortgage lenders; for a building, architects and engineers; for the person who introduced the property, real estate brokers.

Questions to ask

• What is your OAB number, and with which State section?
• Do you work in the State and city where the property is?
• What will you check (title, certificates, contract), and what will you not check?
• How is the fee set, and what is charged separately?
• Do you also act for the seller, the developer or the lender in this deal?