Zachariah S. Zagol

The Path to Brazil

I moved to Brazil at 18. Not for a study abroad semester. Not for a gap year. I moved because I fell in love with a country that was nothing like the one I grew up in — and I wanted to understand it from the inside.

Those first years were an education in themselves. I learned Portuguese by immersion — not in a classroom, but in cartorios, bus stations, and Receita Federal offices. I navigated the bureaucracy that every foreigner faces: CPF registration, bank account opening, visa renewals, rental contracts that made no sense to someone raised on American lease agreements. I experienced firsthand every frustration that my clients now bring to me.

That experience shaped everything about how I practice law. When a client tells me they spent three days trying to open a bank account, I do not just sympathize — I remember doing the same thing. When someone asks me whether Brazilian forced heirship will override their US will, I do not give a textbook answer — I explain exactly what will happen, because I have seen it happen dozens of times.

Legal Education and the OAB

After completing my undergraduate studies in Brazil, I returned to the United States to pursue a Master of Laws (LL.M.) at the USC Gould School of Law in Los Angeles, with a concentration in international business and economic law. The program gave me a rigorous foundation in comparative law, international taxation, cross-border transactions, and the conflict-of-laws principles that are central to my practice today.

But the degree that truly defined my career came next. I sat for the OAB exam (Exame de Ordem) — Brazil's bar examination administered by the Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil. The OAB exam has a historical pass rate of approximately 20-25%, and it is conducted entirely in Portuguese. I passed, and was admitted to the Sao Paulo section as OAB/SP 351.356.

To my knowledge, I am the first American citizen to achieve this. The significance is not the title — it is what it represents. Full admission to the Brazilian Bar means I can file motions, appear in court, draft public instruments, and represent clients in any legal proceeding in Brazil. I am not an "international consultant" or a "foreign legal advisor." I am an advogado — with all the rights and responsibilities that entails.

Founding ZS Advogados

I founded ZS Advogados Associados to serve a client base that I understood intimately: foreign nationals living in, investing in, or doing business with Brazil. Americans buying property in Sao Paulo. European entrepreneurs opening companies in Brazil. Binational families navigating inheritance across two legal systems. Retirees who moved to Brazil and now need to ensure their estate plan actually works.

The firm handles over 700 cases spanning estate planning, immigration, business law, and real estate. Our clients are based in 14 countries, and every engagement is conducted bilingually — English and Portuguese, with no translators needed.

Areas of Expertise

Why This Matters for You

Cross-border legal work is not just about knowing two sets of laws. It is about understanding how they interact — where they conflict, where they align, and where the gaps create both risk and opportunity.

When I review a client's estate plan, I am not just checking Brazilian compliance. I am thinking about US estate tax implications, FBAR reporting requirements, the interaction between forced heirship and the client's US revocable trust, and whether the holding company structure will create a Form 5471 filing obligation. This dual-system perspective is not something you can learn from a textbook — it comes from living in both worlds for over 15 years.

My clients tell me that the most valuable thing I provide is not legal knowledge (though that matters). It is the ability to explain complex Brazilian legal concepts in plain English, using American reference points. When I say "the legitima works like a forced share that even your will cannot override," an American client immediately understands the gravity of the issue. That translation — legal and cultural — is what makes our practice different.

Professional Affiliations and Activities

Speaking and Publications