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"title": "How Long Does a Lawsuit in Brazil Take? 2 to 4 Years",
"excerpt": "A lawsuit in Brazil takes 2-4 years to first judgment and 6-12 years with appeals and enforcement. See realistic timelines by court type in 2026.",
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"content_markdown": "You signed a contract in Brazil, the other side breached it, and your Brazilian lawyer just told you the case “should take a couple of years.” A couple of years? You need an answer now. That reaction is normal, and it is exactly why so many foreign clients feel blindsided by the Brazilian judiciary.\n\nHere is the honest answer up front. A contested contract dispute in a Brazilian state court typically takes 2 to 4 years to reach a first-instance judgment (sentença), 1 to 3 more years on appeal, and another 2 to 5 years to actually collect the money if the debtor resists. According to the CNJ (Conselho Nacional de Justiça, the National Council of Justice) and its annual “Justiça em Números” report, the Brazilian judiciary handles roughly 80 million pending cases, which explains the queue.\n\nLeia também:\n[Contracts in Brazil for Foreigners: Legal Guide 2026](https://www.ribeirocavalcante.com.br/contracts-litigation-brazil/)\n\nBut slow is not the same as unpredictable. Brazilian litigation is slow in a fairly consistent, measurable way. Once you know the realistic timeline for your specific court (small claims, state civil court, labor court, federal court, or the superior courts in Brasília), you can make rational decisions: litigate, settle, or use arbitration.\n\nThis guide gives you the real numbers by court type, explains where the time actually goes, and shows you what you can control. It is written for foreigners and foreign companies who need to plan cash flow, board expectations, and legal budgets around a Brazilian case.\n\n\n## How Long Does a Court Case Take in Brazil on Average?\n\nA typical civil case in a Brazilian state court takes 2 to 4 years from filing to first-instance judgment, according to CNJ “Justiça em Números” methodology, which measures time from filing (distribuição) to sentença. Add appeals and enforcement, and a fully contested contract dispute realistically runs 6 to 12 years to a final, unappealable outcome.\n\nLeia também:\n[Enforce Foreign Judgment in Brazil: STJ Process 2026](https://www.ribeirocavalcante.com.br/contracts-litigation-brazil/enforce-foreign-contract/)\n\nThree structural facts explain those numbers, and understanding them removes most of the frustration.\n\nFirst, Brazil is a Civil Law country, not a Common Law one. Judges apply written codes, mainly the Civil Procedure Code (Código de Processo Civil, Law 13.105/2015), and the process is heavily written. Almost everything happens through documents filed in an electronic case file, not through hearings. There is no jury in civil matters and very little of the oral, front-loaded procedure that US or UK litigants expect.\n\nSecond, Brazil has an unusually generous appeal structure. A losing party can appeal to the state Court of Appeal (Tribunal de Justiça), then attempt a special appeal to the STJ (Superior Tribunal de Justiça, Superior Court of Justice) and an extraordinary appeal to the STF (Supremo Tribunal Federal, Supreme Federal Court). Each layer is a new queue.\n\nThird, winning is not collecting. The enforcement phase (cumprimento de sentença) is a separate procedural stage with its own timeline, and it is where foreign creditors lose the most patience.\n\n**Important:** The Civil Procedure Code guarantees a “reasonable duration of the process” (duração razoável do processo), and Article 5 of the Brazilian Constitution repeats the principle. In practice it is a guiding principle, not a hard deadline that gets your case decided faster. Plan around the statistics, not the principle.\n\n\n## What Are the Stages of a Brazilian Lawsuit, and How Long Does Each One Take?\n\nA Brazilian civil case has three main stages: the knowledge phase (fase de conhecimento, where the judge decides who is right), the appeal phase, and the enforcement phase. Under the Civil Procedure Code, the defendant normally has 15 business days to respond after being served, but service on a hard-to-find defendant alone can consume 3 to 8 months.\n\n\n### Stage 1: Filing and service (2-8 months)\n\nYour lawyer files the initial petition (petição inicial) electronically. The judge reviews it and orders the defendant to be served (citação). If the defendant is a registered company at a known address, service can take 30-60 days. If the defendant hides, moved, or is abroad, expect 6 months or more. Service abroad through a letter rogatory (carta rogatória) can add a full year.\n\n\n### Stage 2: Defense, evidence and hearings (12-30 months)\n\nAfter the defense is filed, the judge decides which evidence is needed. Documentary evidence is fast. Expert evidence (perícia contábil, an accounting expert report) is the single biggest time sink in commercial cases: appointing the expert, paying the fee, producing the report and allowing both sides to challenge it commonly takes 8 to 18 months by itself.\n\n\n### Stage 3: Judgment and appeals (12-48 months)\n\nThe sentença comes after the case sits “concluso para julgamento” (submitted to the judge for decision). This waiting period, invisible to clients, is often 4 to 12 months in busy courts. Then the appeal to the Tribunal de Justiça adds 1 to 3 years, depending on the state.\n\n**Example:** A foreign supplier sues a São Paulo distributor for R$ 500,000 in unpaid invoices. Service takes 3 months, defense and evidence 14 months, accounting expert report 10 months, judgment 6 months later. That is 33 months (nearly 3 years) to a first-instance win, before any appeal.\n\n\n## Lawsuit in brazil: How Long Does Each Type of Brazilian Court Take?\n\nDuration varies enormously by court. Small claims courts (Juizados Especiais) can deliver judgment in 6 to 18 months, labor courts in 1 to 2 years, ordinary state civil courts in 2 to 4 years, and federal courts in 2.5 to 4 years. The superior courts in Brasília add years on top, per CNJ case-flow data.\n\n\n*How long does a court case take in brazil on average? — foto: bru-no*\n\n| Court / Stage | Realistic time to decision | Best fit for |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Juizados Especiais (small claims, up to 40 minimum wages) | 6-18 months | Consumer disputes, small debts, no lawyer needed up to 20 minimum wages |\n| Justiça do Trabalho (labor courts), 1st instance | 1-2 years | Employment claims, wrongful dismissal, unpaid benefits |\n| Justiça Estadual (state civil courts), knowledge phase | 2-4 years | Contract breach, real estate, corporate disputes |\n| Justiça Federal (federal courts), knowledge phase | 2.5-4 years | Cases against the federal government, immigration, federal tax |\n| Tribunal de Justiça / TRF (appeal panel) | +1-3 years | Any appeal from 1st instance |\n| STJ (Superior Court of Justice) | +2-4 years | Special appeals on federal law, homologation of foreign judgments |\n| STF (Supreme Federal Court) | +2-5 years | Constitutional questions only |\n| Enforcement (cumprimento de sentença), state courts | +2-5 years | Collecting after you win |\n| Arbitration (Law 9.307/1996) | 12-24 months, usually final | High-value commercial contracts with an arbitration clause |\n\nTwo clarifications matter for foreigners. First, the Juizados Especiais look attractive because they are fast and cheap, but the ceiling is 40 minimum wages (around R$ 60,000 in 2026 terms) and expert evidence is generally not allowed, which rules out complex commercial disputes.\n\nSecond, court fees in ordinary state courts typically run 1% to 2% of the claim value, capped in São Paulo at roughly R$ 60,000. So a R$ 200,000 claim carries fees in the R$ 2,000 to R$ 4,000 range at filing, plus expert fees and appeal fees later.\n\n**Tip:** If your contract value is above R$ 300,000 and both parties are businesses, seriously consider an arbitration clause before signing. Arbitration under the Brazilian Arbitration Law (Lei 9.307/1996) produces an award with the same force as a court judgment, usually in 12-24 months, with no appeal on the merits. Our guide on [choosing the governing law for Brazilian contracts](https://www.ribeirocavalcante.com.br/contracts-litigation-brazil/governing-law-contracts/) explains how to draft that clause correctly.\n\n\n## Why Are Labor Courts Faster and Superior Courts Slower?\n\nLabor courts (Justiça do Trabalho) are structurally the fastest branch, typically 1 to 2 years to first-instance judgment, because procedure is simplified, hearings are mandatory and conciliation is attempted twice. At the top, case-flow data from the TST (Superior Labor Court) shows medians around 234 days for the most common appeal type and 599 to 686 days for heavier ones.\n\nThe labor system was designed for speed. A worker files, a hearing is scheduled within a few months, the judge pushes for settlement, and if there is no deal the evidence hearing follows quickly. Many labor claims settle at the first hearing, which is why the average duration is so much lower than in civil courts.\n\nAt the appeal level, public statistics from the [Tribunal Superior do Trabalho\r\n\r\n](https://www.tst.jus.br/) show that the agravo de instrumento em recurso de revista (AIRR), by far the highest-volume appeal with over 3.3 million records in the case base, has a median processing time of roughly 234 days. Heavier appeals such as the recurso de revista itself run closer to 599-686 days.\n\nWhy are the superior courts slower? Because the STJ and STF receive hundreds of thousands of filings a year from the entire country. Their job is to unify the interpretation of federal and constitutional law, not to re-examine facts. A special appeal to the [Superior Tribunal de Justiça](https://www.stj.jus.br/) usually spends most of its life waiting: waiting for admissibility review in the state court, waiting for distribution to a reporting justice (relator), and waiting for the panel session.\n\n**Note:** Not every case can reach the STJ or STF. Special appeals require a clear violation of federal law or a conflict between courts, and extraordinary appeals require a constitutional question with “general repercussion” (repercussão geral). Most contract disputes end at the Tribunal de Justiça, which is good news for your timeline.\n\n\n## Lawsuit in brazil: How Long Until You Actually Get Paid After Winning?\n\nGetting paid is a separate phase. After a final judgment, the debtor is ordered to pay within 15 days or face a 10% penalty plus 10% in attorney fees under the Civil Procedure Code. If the debtor does not pay voluntarily, enforcement in state courts realistically adds 2 to 5 years, and payments by the federal government through precatórios can take 5 to 10 years.\n\nThe enforcement toolkit in Brazil is actually strong. Your lawyer can request:\n\n- SISBAJUD: an electronic freeze of the debtor’s bank accounts nationwide, often executed in 48-72 hours\n- RENAJUD: blocking and seizure of vehicles registered to the debtor\n- INFOJUD: access to the debtor’s tax filings through Receita Federal (the Brazilian IRS)\n- Registration of the debt with credit bureaus and a protest at the cartório (notary office with legal registration powers)\n- Piercing the corporate veil (desconsideração da personalidade jurídica) when assets were hidden through shell structures\n\nThe speed of enforcement therefore depends almost entirely on one variable: does the debtor have visible assets in Brazil? If yes, a bank freeze can end the case in weeks. If not, you can spend years chasing.\n\n**Real case:** A European investor obtained a judgment of R$ 56,480 against a Brazilian services company. The bank freeze recovered R$ 1,412 in the first attempt. Two years of asset searches later, the company was found to be an empty shell, and the case shifted to piercing the corporate veil against the partners. The lesson: check the counterparty’s solvency before you sue, not after.\n\n**Warning:** Before filing anything, ask your lawyer for an asset check on the defendant. A judgment against an insolvent company is an expensive piece of paper. In many cases a negotiated settlement of 60% paid in 90 days beats 100% collected in 2029.\n\n\n## What Actually Slows a Brazilian Case Down?\n\nThe biggest delay is not hearings or appeals. It is dead time: the period when the file sits “concluso” (submitted to the judge) waiting for a decision. CNJ data consistently shows that this waiting time, plus service of process and expert reports, accounts for the majority of a case’s total duration, not the parties’ own deadlines.\n\n[\n\n\n\n](https://www.ribeirocavalcante.com.br/web-stories/how-long-lawsuit-brazil-takes/)\n\n⚡ Web Story\n[How Long Does a Lawsuit in Brazil Take? 2 to 4 Years](https://www.ribeirocavalcante.com.br/web-stories/how-long-lawsuit-brazil-takes/)\n[Ver história visual ›](https://www.ribeirocavalcante.com.br/web-stories/how-long-lawsuit-brazil-takes/)\n\n\nThe main time drivers, in order of impact:\n\n- **Judicial backlog:** a single judge in a busy São Paulo or Rio civil court may have 5,000 to 10,000 open cases\n- **Service of process:** defendants who cannot be located trigger publication by edict, adding 4-8 months\n- **Expert evidence:** accounting or engineering reports commonly add 8-18 months\n- **Court recesses and strikes:** the judiciary pauses from 20 December to 20 January every year, and deadlines are suspended\n- **Tactical appeals:** interlocutory appeals (agravo de instrumento) against procedural decisions can pause parts of the case\n- **Requests for free legal aid or fee installments** by the other side, which trigger separate incidents\n\nOn the positive side, one factor dramatically accelerates cases: an existing binding precedent. When the STJ has already decided the legal question in a repetitive appeal (recurso repetitivo) or issued a Súmula, lower courts apply the thesis directly, and the case can be decided without evidence hearings.\n\nBank and consumer credit disputes are a good example. The STJ settled the main questions on interest rates in bank contracts in the repetitive appeal REsp 1.061.530, and Súmula 596 of the STF plus Súmula 548 of the STJ already fix core points. A case squarely covered by these precedents can reach judgment in months rather than years.\n\n\n## What Changed in 2026 for Case Timelines in Brazil?\n\nThe most significant change is full digitalization. In 2026 virtually all Brazilian courts operate exclusively through electronic case files (PJe and eproc), and CNJ policy has pushed for unified digital platforms, remote hearings and AI-assisted triage of repetitive cases. This has cut administrative dead time, though it has not eliminated the judicial backlog.\n\nPractical consequences for foreign parties:\n\n- **Remote hearings are now standard** in many courts, meaning you can testify from abroad by video without flying to Brazil. Confirm this with the specific court, since practice varies by state.\n- **Digital powers of attorney:** a procuração signed abroad still needs apostille and sworn translation, but many courts now accept fully digital signatures certified through ICP-Brasil.\n- **Electronic asset searches** through SISBAJUD and RENAJUD are faster and broader, which shortens enforcement when assets exist.\n- **Case tracking:** you can follow filings and deadlines yourself through the [gov.br](https://www.gov.br/pt-br) portal and each court’s website, since most civil case files are public under the transparency rule of the Civil Procedure Code (secrecy applies only to family, corporate confidentiality and other protected matters).\n\nThe CNJ continues to expand its “Justiça 4.0” program and precedent-based mass adjudication. The direction of travel is clear: repetitive, well-precedented cases get faster; complex, fact-heavy commercial disputes stay slow. You can check the official statistics yourself at the [Conselho Nacional de Justiça](https://www.cnj.jus.br/).\n\nAlso relevant in 2026: if you already have a judgment from a court outside Brazil, you do not restart the case here. You go through recognition at the STJ, a process explained in our guide on [enforcing a foreign judgment in Brazil](https://www.ribeirocavalcante.com.br/contracts-litigation-brazil/enforce-foreign-contract/), which usually takes 8 to 18 months when uncontested.\n\n\n## How Do You Track Your Case and Keep It Moving? Step by Step\n\nYou can monitor a Brazilian case online for free using the case number (número do processo), a 20-digit code in the CNJ standard format. Most civil cases are public under the Civil Procedure Code’s publicity rule. The practical steps below let you verify progress yourself instead of waiting for updates.\n\n\n### Documents you will need to start a case in Brazil\n\n- Passport and, if you have one, CPF (Brazilian taxpayer number) or CNPJ for companies\n- Procuração (power of attorney) signed for your OAB-registered lawyer, notarized and apostilled if signed abroad\n- The contract and all amendments, with sworn translation (tradução juramentada) if not in Portuguese\n- Proof of the breach: invoices, emails, WhatsApp messages, bank transfers, delivery receipts\n- Guia de recolhimento (court fee payment slip) paid at filing\n- Corporate documents (articles of association, board resolution) if the claimant is a foreign company\n\n\n### Step-by-step to track and pressure the case\n\n- **Step 1:** Get the case number from your lawyer immediately after filing and save it.\n- **Step 2:** Search it on the relevant court’s website (Tribunal de Justiça of the state, TRF for federal cases) or through the CNJ national case-lookup service.\n- **Step 3:** Ask your lawyer for a written monthly status note. A simple pattern works: last event, next expected event, estimated date.\n- **Step 4:** If the file has been “concluso” for more than 6 months with no decision, your lawyer can file a petition requesting urgency and, if needed, a formal complaint to the court’s corregedoria (internal oversight body).\n- **Step 5:** Push for conciliation. Brazilian courts schedule mandatory conciliation hearings, and a settlement is enforceable immediately, cutting years off the timeline.\n- **Step 6:** Front-load evidence. Cases with complete documentation at filing avoid expert reports and move far faster.\n\n**Pro tip:** Ask your lawyer, before filing, for a written timeline estimate with three scenarios: settlement, uncontested win, and fully contested with appeals. Attach a budget to each. This single document prevents 90% of the frustration foreign clients experience with Brazilian courts.\n\n\n*How long does a court case take in brazil on average? — foto: rdne stock project*\n\n\n## Frequently Asked Questions About Brazilian Court Timelines\n\nBelow are the questions foreign clients ask most often, with direct answers based on current Brazilian procedure and CNJ statistics.\n\n\n### Can I speed up my case if I am a foreigner living abroad?\n\nBeing foreign does not slow or speed your case, but three practical moves help. File with complete, translated and apostilled documentation so no evidence stage is needed. Grant a broad power of attorney so your lawyer never has to wait for your signature. And accept remote hearings, which most courts now allow, so scheduling does not depend on your travel. Priority treatment (tramitação prioritária) exists in Brazil for people over 60, people with serious illness, and certain vulnerable groups, and it applies to foreigners who meet those criteria just as it does to Brazilians.\n\n\n### Is arbitration really faster than Brazilian courts?\n\nYes, substantially. Arbitration under Law 9.307/1996 typically produces a final award in 12 to 24 months, and the award cannot be appealed on the merits: it can only be annulled on narrow procedural grounds. Compare that with 6 to 12 years for a fully contested court case. The trade-off is cost. Institutional arbitration fees plus arbitrator fees can easily reach R$ 200,000 or more, so arbitration makes economic sense mainly for disputes above roughly R$ 500,000. The clause must exist in the contract before the dispute arises, or both parties must agree afterwards.\n\n\n### How long does a small claims case (Juizado Especial) take?\n\nBetween 6 and 18 months to judgment in most states, which makes it the fastest option in Brazil. The ceiling is 40 minimum wages (roughly R$ 60,000 in 2026), and you can file without a lawyer for claims up to 20 minimum wages. The trade-off is procedural: complex expert evidence is generally not admitted, and the appeal goes to a panel of first-instance judges (turma recursal) rather than the Court of Appeal. It is excellent for consumer disputes, airline compensation and small unpaid debts, and unsuitable for complex commercial contracts.\n\n\n### What happens if the judge simply never decides my case?\n\nYou have remedies, though none produce instant results. Your lawyer can file a petition requesting an urgent decision, then a representation to the court’s corregedoria (internal oversight body), and ultimately a complaint to the CNJ, which supervises judicial performance nationally. In extreme cases of excessive delay, Brazilian courts have recognized claims for damages against the State for violating the constitutional right to a reasonable duration of the process. Realistically, the corregedoria route works best: a formal complaint about a file sitting undecided for over a year often produces a decision within weeks.\n\n\n### Do I have to travel to Brazil for my hearings?\n\nUsually not. Your OAB-registered lawyer represents you through the power of attorney and attends all hearings. Since the pandemic, remote videoconference hearings have become standard practice across most Brazilian courts, so even personal testimony can normally be given from abroad. You should confirm with your lawyer whether the specific judge requires in-person attendance for the evidence hearing (audiência de instrução). The power of attorney must be signed, notarized, apostilled under the Hague Apostille Convention, and accompanied by a sworn translation into Portuguese.\n\n\n### Does a settlement really save that much time?\n\nAlmost always. A court-approved settlement (acordo homologado) becomes an enforceable title immediately, and if the other side breaches it you skip straight to enforcement without a new trial. In practice, settling at the conciliation hearing can turn a projected 7-year path into a 6-month resolution. Brazilian judges actively encourage settlement, and the Civil Procedure Code makes a conciliation hearing the default first step in most civil cases. Foreign clients who anchor on “full value or nothing” frequently recover less, later, than those who negotiate early.\n\n\n## Plan Your Brazilian Court Case Timeline With a Bilingual Legal Team\n\nWaiting years for a decision in a legal system you did not grow up with is genuinely stressful, especially when money, a business or a family is on the line. The good news is that most of the uncertainty disappears once someone maps your specific case: which court, which stage, which realistic timeline, and which shortcuts (settlement, arbitration, priority treatment, targeted enforcement) actually apply to you.\n\nAt Ribeiro Cavalcante Advocacia we work daily with foreign clients and foreign companies litigating and enforcing contracts in Brazil. We give you a written timeline and budget before you commit, in English, with no legalese. If you want the wider picture first, start with our [complete legal guide to contracts in Brazil for foreigners](https://www.ribeirocavalcante.com.br/contracts-litigation-brazil/).\n\nTell us what happened and we will tell you, realistically, how long it will take and what it will cost.\n\nTalk to a specialist lawyer now\n[ Talk to a Lawyer on WhatsApp](https://www.ribeirocavalcante.com.br/ads/wpp.html)",
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"date_published": "2026-08-03T10:46:02-03:00",
"date_modified": "2026-08-03T10:46:02-03:00",
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{
"question": "How long does a lawsuit in Brazil take from start to finish?",
"answer": "A fully contested case realistically runs 6 to 12 years from filing to final collection, including appeals to the Tribunal de Justiça, STJ and enforcement (cumprimento de sentença)."
},
{
"question": "What is the fastest court to file a lawsuit in Brazil?",
"answer": "The Juizado Especial (small claims court) is the fastest, typically resolving cases in 6 to 18 months for claims up to 40 minimum wages, with simplified procedure and no upfront court fees."
},
{
"question": "Can a foreigner sue a Brazilian company without living in Brazil?",
"answer": "Yes. A non-resident can sue through a Brazilian lawyer holding a power of attorney, but foreign plaintiffs without assets in Brazil may be required to post a security deposit (caução) for costs."
},
{
"question": "How long do labor court cases take in Brazil?",
"answer": "Labor court (Justiça do Trabalho) claims average 1 to 2 years to first-instance judgment, faster than civil courts, but appeals to the TRT and TST can add 2 to 4 more years."
},
{
"question": "Is arbitration faster than litigation in Brazil?",
"answer": "Yes. Brazilian arbitration awards are usually issued within 12 to 24 months and cannot be appealed on the merits, though enforcement against a resisting debtor still goes through state courts."
}
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"level": 2,
"text": "How Long Does a Court Case Take in Brazil on Average?",
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"level": 2,
"text": "What Are the Stages of a Brazilian Lawsuit, and How Long Does Each One Take?",
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"text": "Stage 1: Filing and service (2-8 months)",
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"text": "Stage 2: Defense, evidence and hearings (12-30 months)",
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"text": "Stage 3: Judgment and appeals (12-48 months)",
"anchor": "stage-3-judgment-and-appeals-12-48-months"
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"level": 2,
"text": "Lawsuit in brazil: How Long Does Each Type of Brazilian Court Take?",
"anchor": "lawsuit-in-brazil-how-long-does-each-type-of-brazilian-court-take"
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{
"level": 2,
"text": "Why Are Labor Courts Faster and Superior Courts Slower?",
"anchor": "why-are-labor-courts-faster-and-superior-courts-slower"
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"level": 2,
"text": "Lawsuit in brazil: How Long Until You Actually Get Paid After Winning?",
"anchor": "lawsuit-in-brazil-how-long-until-you-actually-get-paid-after-winning"
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"level": 2,
"text": "What Actually Slows a Brazilian Case Down?",
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"level": 2,
"text": "What Changed in 2026 for Case Timelines in Brazil?",
"anchor": "what-changed-in-2026-for-case-timelines-in-brazil"
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"level": 2,
"text": "How Do You Track Your Case and Keep It Moving? Step by Step",
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"level": 3,
"text": "Documents you will need to start a case in Brazil",
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