If there is a topic that keeps lawyers awake at night when they want to invest in digital marketing, it is this: what can I and what can’t I do according to the OAB?
The answer lies in Provision No. 205/2021 of the Federal Council of the OAB — the regulatory framework that modernized the rules of legal marketing and recognized that the legal profession needs to be digital. But with very clear limits.
In this article, you will understand exactly what has changed, what is allowed, what is prohibited, and how to build a marketing strategy 100% within the rules.
The Evolution of Marketing Rules in Law
Until 2021, advertising in law was regulated by Provision 94/2000 — a text from another era, prior to smartphones, social media, and Google. In practice, any digital marketing action could be interpreted as an ethical violation, which created legal insecurity for those wanting to promote their work.
The Provision 205/2021, which came into effect in August 2021, changed this scenario. It recognizes that:
- Digital legal marketing is allowed
- The lawyer can use social media, websites, blogs, and paid ads
- The limit lies in the informational vs. commercial nature of the content
- Advertising must be moderate and discreet
What Provision 205/2021 Allows
Let's get straight to the point. Here is the checklist of what you can do:
✅ Website and Digital Presence
- Have a professional website with information about the firm and areas of practice
- Publish a resume with academic background, specializations, and published articles
- Disclose professional achievements such as passing exams, titles, awards
- Use logo, visual identity, and professional photos
✅ Content and Digital Marketing
- Publish articles, posts, and videos on legal topics — as long as they are informative, not promotional
- Maintain a legal blog with educational content
- Offer lectures, webinars, and live sessions on topics of your specialty
- Create free e-books and rich materials (e.g., “Guide to Consensual Divorce”)
- Send newsletters with commented legal updates
✅ Social Media
- Have professional profiles on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok
- Share academic achievements and participation in events
- Answer legal questions in a generic way (without setting up free consultations)
- Interact with colleagues and participate in legal debates
✅ Ads and Paid Traffic
- Boost informative content (posts, articles, videos)
- Advertise on Google Ads — as long as the ad leads to content, not a direct offer
- Sponsor posts on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn
The key to all this: the content must be informative, educational, or journalistic — never commercial or self-promotional.
What is Expressly Prohibited
Now the limits. These are the practices that can lead to disciplinary action by the OAB:
❌ Client Solicitation and Commercialization
- Active client solicitation: Approaching people in WhatsApp groups, cold messages in direct, leafleting
- Commercialization of the profession: Treating law as commerce — expressions like “promotion,” “discount,” “package”
- Use of intermediaries: Paying commissions for client referrals (except for law firms)
❌ Promises and Comparisons
- Promising results: “We guarantee your compensation,” “You will win this case” — this is a serious ethical violation
- Superlative self-qualification: “The best lawyer,” “The most awarded,” “National reference”
- Comparison with colleagues: Any direct or indirect comparison between lawyers or firms
- Disclosing fee values as a marketing strategy
❌ Ostentation and Sensationalism
- Ostentation of assets: Photos with luxury cars, trips, watches — associated with the profession
- Sensationalism: Alarmist headlines, instigation to litigation, appeal to fear
- Disclosure of clients: Using clients' names or companies as social proof without express authorization
❌ Service and Relationship
- Mass free consultations: Offering “free consultation” as a solicitation strategy
- Legal telemarketing: Calling potential clients offering services
- Distribution of gifts: Pens, calendars, agendas with the firm's brand to the general public
Real Cases of Violations and Punishments
The OAB has intensified the oversight of digital legal marketing. Some examples of cases that resulted in punishment:
- A lawyer who used phrases like “the best criminal lawyer in Brazil” on the website and social media — 30-day suspension
- A firm that paid influencers to refer legal services — disciplinary action for all partners
- A lawyer who posted luxury photos associating lifestyle with professional success — public censure
- A firm that sent mass messages in Instagram direct offering services — 60-day suspension
Fines can reach suspension of up to 12 months and, in severe cases, exclusion from the OAB.
Content Marketing: The Safe Path
If you want to sleep peacefully while doing digital marketing, the answer is one: content marketing. It is the strategy most aligned with Provision 205 because:
- You are not “selling yourself” — you are educating the public
- The client finds you because you demonstrated authority, not because you shouted
- All content can be informative, educational, and journalistic — exactly what the OAB encourages
Examples of Safe Content
✅ Can do:
- “Understand how contentious divorce works in Brazil”
- “5 worker rights that few people know”
- “What changed in the tax reform for small businesses”
- “Complete guide to INSS: how to apply for sick leave”
❌ Cannot do:
- “Need a quick divorce? We are the best — call now”
- “We guarantee your retirement in 30 days or your money back”
- “The number 1 firm in labor cases in São Paulo”
Do you see the difference? The first group informs. The second sells. This is what separates ethical legal marketing from disciplinary violation.
Social Media: The Fine Line Between Allowed and Prohibited
Social media is where most lawyers slip up. Provision 205 pays special attention to them:
What is allowed on social media
- Sharing legal news with technical comments
- Publishing excerpts from academic articles
- Disclosing participation in events and congresses
- Posting photos of the office (professional environment)
- Sharing success cases with anonymized data and express authorization
What is not allowed on social media
- Posting photos of hearings or courts (except in public settings and without exposing parties)
- Sharing prints of conversations with clients
- Using “stories” for direct service offers
- Doing lives with a tone of legal telemarketing
- Answering specific questions that constitute free consultation
Paid Ads: What the Provision Says
Provision 205 allows content boosting (paid traffic), but with important caveats:
- The ad must direct to informative content — not to a “hire now” page
- Segmentation can be by interest and location, but not by sensitive personal characteristics
- Aggressive remarketing is not allowed (following the user with service offers)
- Landing pages must be educational, with contact forms without commercial appeal
Example of an ethical ad:
Title: “Labor Rights: Complete Guide 2025”
Description: “Understand your rights in dismissals, overtime, and vacations. Free guide written by specialists.”
Destination: blog article
OAB Compliance Checklist
Use this checklist to audit your digital marketing:
- [ ] Website has an informational character, not commercial
- [ ] No promises of results on any page
- [ ] No comparisons with other lawyers or firms
- [ ] No prices or “packages” of services
- [ ] Social media posts educational content, not commercial
- [ ] Paid ads direct to articles/content, not to sales pages
- [ ] Stories and posts do not have a telemarketing tone
- [ ] No photos of ostentation associated with law
- [ ] Success cases are anonymous and with authorization
- [ ] Client names do not appear as social proof without consent
- [ ] No active solicitation in WhatsApp groups or directs
The Regulatory Committee for Legal Marketing
In 2023, the OAB created the Regulatory Committee for Legal Marketing, a body dedicated to interpreting and updating the marketing rules in law. This means that:
- The rules are constantly evolving
- New guidelines are published periodically
- In case of doubt, it is possible to consult your sectional committee
Recommendation: follow the website marketingjuridico.oab.org.br for updates.
Conclusion: Legal Marketing is Possible and Ethical
The lawyer who is not digital today is invisible to most potential clients. But being digital does not mean doing aggressive marketing. It means using the right tools — SEO, content, social media, informative ads — to be found by those who need you.
The golden rule is simple and does not change: be informative, never commercial. Be an authority, never a seller.