Brazil is making strides towards gender parity across its legal profession, though female representation drops off sharply at senior levels, according to the IBA’s latest gender disparity survey.

The ‘Brazil Gender Report’, commissioned by the International Bar Association (IBA), found that while 50% of all Bar registrations were female, women only make up 44% of all lawyers and just 37% of women held senior roles.

Commercial law firms recorded 55% of women working as lawyers, with 43% of women holding senior roles. Notable examples of best practice include BMA Advogados, where 41% of partners are women, and 55% of fee-earners are female, with the firm offering mentoring to women partners and providing professional growth opportunities for women.

Commercial lawyers BFBM (Barroso Fontelles, Barcellos, Mendonça & Associados) also demonstrated a solid commitment to diversity and inclusion, with 64% of female lawyers and 62% of senior leadership positions held by women.

Public sector lawyers lagged behind commercial lawyers, with only 28% of senior positions held by women despite comprising 43% of the workforce and despite gender parity being actively monitored by institutions.

Just over a third (34%) of senior corporate in-house lawyers were women. However, there were difficulties in collecting data for this sector, with survey results supplemented by regulatory filings.  

Paula Barioni, a prominent Brazilian criminal lawyer and the report’s author, highlighted the resilience of Brazilian women who “have been able to resist the adversities imposed on us and have contributed to our development as a nation”.

Introducing the report, Luís Roberto Barroso, President of the Supreme Federal Court and the National Council of Justice, said: “Brazilian culture places a disproportionate burden on women, restricting their ability to participate in public life,” adding that “increasing women’s participation in the public sphere is a critical objective”.

While progress was gradual, he noted institutions were changing, citing the 2020 adoption by the Brazilian Bar Association of 50/50 rules for gender parity, “the construction of which I worked tirelessly for 12 years and four terms at the Brazilian Bar”.

He said: “Today, all 27 sections of the Brazilian Bar Association, plus the Federal Council, follow this rule. It is the only institution in the country to have gender parity in all its positions.”

José Alberto Simonetti, President of the Federal Council of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), also highlighted the proactive measures being taken: “Ensuring gender equality requires the participation of all sectors of society.”

He detailed key OAB initiatives, such as support for the rights of pregnant, adopting and breastfeeding lawyers, aimed at changing the current scenario.

Barroso added that to combat such disparities, the judiciary had also recently set national targets to increase female representation in leadership to 50%, including creating positions exclusively for women judges who make up 38% of the judiciary.

The report also revealed that flexible working options, offered by nearly 64% of respondents, were the most popular initiative to address gender disparity across all sectors.

The ‘50:50 by 2030’ Brazil report is the ninth in a series launched in 2021 by IBA President Almudena Arpón de Mendívil Aldama aimed at shedding light on the root causes of gender disparity in the legal profession and identifying practical solutions.

Previous reports include England and Wales, Uganda and Spain in 2022; Nigeria, the Netherlands and Chile in 2023; South Korea in 2024, with September’s report on Mexico due to be announced at the IBA annual conference in that country at which Global Legal Post will again produce IBA Daily News, the conference’s daily newsletter.

The latest report comes after the IBA won the Gender Equality Initiative of the Year Award at the Women and Diversity in Law Awards in London, which the Global Legal Post organises. Nominations for the 2025 Awards close on 12 September.