Lawyers in Brazil can use Instagram to promote their work, as long as the content is informative and doesn’t actively solicit clients. Provimento 205/2021 from the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) allows legal content marketing and bans things like publishing fee amounts, promising results, showing off wealth, or exposing clients or cases without consent. In practice, what works is explaining rights and common questions in plain language.
For a long time, advertising in the legal profession was treated as almost forbidden in Brazil. Provimento 205/2021 changed that. It recognizes legal marketing and sets limits. This article summarizes the points that most affect Instagram, and it doesn’t replace reading the full text or getting guidance from your local OAB chapter.
What the rule allows
- Informative legal content. Explaining rights, deadlines, procedures, and changes in the law.
- Promoting your practice areas and your firm’s structure.
- Showing your team, education, and experience, in a sober, professional way.
- Taking part in debates and interviews on legal topics.
- Professional profiles on social media, with identification and your OAB (Brazilian Bar Association) registration number.
What’s prohibited
- Advertising fee amounts or offering free services as bait.
- Promising results (“win your case,” “100% success rate”).
- Soliciting clients, such as directly approaching people involved in accidents or lawsuits.
- Showing off wealth. Displaying cars, trips, and assets associated with your law practice as a way to attract clients.
- Mentioning clients or cases without authorization and in a way that identifies the people involved.
- Sensationalist or commercial language that treats legal services like a product on a shelf.
Paid boosting of posts and ads are also covered by the ruling, with certain conditions. Read the full text before you sponsor any content.
What to post
Frequently asked questions
“Who can request child support?”, “How long do I have to file a labor lawsuit?” One question per post, with a direct answer.
Changes in the law
What changed, who it affects, and what to do now. This is the most shared type of content in the legal field.
Myths
“It’s not true that…” works well, because a lot of people make decisions based on wrong information.
Step-by-step procedures
How probate works, how an eviction lawsuit works, how to request retirement benefits. Without promising a timeline or outcome.
Low-key behind-the-scenes
The firm’s daily routine, preparing for a hearing, the team. It humanizes without showing off.
Formats that work for law firms
- Educational carousel. Ideal for explaining a legal right step by step. See how to create an Instagram carousel.
- Short video of the attorney speaking. A face builds trust. One question per video.
- Post quoting the law, with the explanation in plain language.
Language guidelines
- Swap legal jargon for the client’s everyday language. Use “support” instead of the technical term for pregnancy support payments in the headline, and add the legal term afterward.
- Avoid promissory verbs like “guarantee,” “secure,” or “win.”
- Don’t use “best law firm” or “the most experienced.” Self-promotional superlatives are exactly the kind of language the ruling bans.
- Cite your source: the law, article, or court precedent.
Instagram and LinkedIn
For corporate and tax law, LinkedIn tends to perform better than Instagram, because the client is a business owner. See LinkedIn for businesses. For family, consumer, labor, and social security law, Instagram tends to reach individual clients better.
How to measure results
Messages with real questions, scheduled consultations, and referrals. Law student followers are great for reach, but rarely become clients.
Frequently asked questions
Can I answer a follower’s question in the comments? You can give general information. Analysis of a specific case should go to a consultation.
Can I post about a case I won? Only with the client’s authorization and without identifying the parties, and always without a promissory tone.
Can I use stock photos? You can, but real photos of your office and team build more trust.
Does Ciclicko create content for law firms? Yes, we create ready-to-publish posts, and the copy follows the rule of never promising results. See our content creation plans and the article on how to write Instagram captions for your business.