Litigation and Private Relations
Practice before the Superior Courts
Appeals and oral argument before the Supremo Tribunal Federal and the Superior Tribunal de Justiça.
Access to the superior courts is restricted by formal requirements with no counterpart in the lower courts: preservation of the issue below, general repercussion, proof of conflicting rulings and the bar on reexamining evidence. Most appeals are never decided on the merits — they are dismissed before that.
Situations the area handles
- Unfavorable appellate ruling involving a constitutional or federal law question.
- Recurso especial or extraordinário denied leave at the origin.
- Conflicting rulings among courts on the same question of law.
- Case stayed pending a general repercussion or repetitive appeal precedent.
- Need for oral argument in Brasília.
- Decision contrary to a binding súmula or to mandatory precedent.
What the work produces
- Recurso especial, recurso extraordinário and interlocutory appeals from their denial.
- Constitutional reclamação for failure to follow precedent.
- Memorials and oral argument before the panels and the full court.
- Legal opinions on the viability of an appeal before it is filed.
- Monitoring of stayed lead cases and requests to lift the stay.
When to seek it
Before the appellate stage, not after it. What allows a recurso especial or extraordinário must have been raised in the case in time — work on the appeal begins at the apelação.
Talk about practice before the superior courts
Describe the transaction and the stage it is at. The reply indicates what needs to be verified before the decision.