In focus since the revelation of the contract with , lawyer Viviane Barci de Moraes, wife of the minister of the (Supreme Federal Court), defends private education and health giants in cases being processed in court.
Among the clients in 31 cases in which she appears as a lawyer are Hapvida, a health insurance company, and SEB, an education group that brings together schools such as Maple Bear, Pueri Domus and Concept and the Unidosmbosco university. The two companies are among the largest in the country in their areas of activity.
Most of Viviane’s cases at the STF reached the court after Moraes took office, on March 22, 2017. Of the 31, 22 began to be processed in court after that date. Of the remaining 8, 3 had Moraes as their lawyer; the other 5 are from when he was Minister of Justice, in the Michel Temer (MDB) government.
When contacted, the STF and the Barci de Moraes office did not respond.
Viviane appears as a party in all of the firm’s cases in court and there are no cases in which another lawyer from the firm signs without her. The couple’s two sons are also partners and appear among the lawyers in some of the cases.
In addition to Barci de Moraes Sociedade de Advogados, based in São Paulo, Viviane opened on September 22, 2025, as shown by the newspaper O Globo, Barci and Barci Sociedade de Advogados, registered in Brasília. On that same date, the US government told her and the , which belongs to the family.
There is no legal impediment for family members of magistrates to act on cases in the STF, but there is an understanding that a minister cannot judge cases involving their relatives. Anyone who considers himself a friend or enemy of a colleague’s relative can also declare himself a suspect.
Viviane’s case for SEB in the STF is a labor claim from a former director who worked at the company between 2018 and 2021, the total value of which is R$591 thousand. She asked for an injunction to suspend the case at the TST (Superior Labor Court). The decision was .
Viviane also acts for the company’s owner, Chaim Zaher, in proceedings in other courts.
In the case of Hapvida, the case in the STF is against the state of Amazonas, whose Department of Education and Sports broke a contract to provide health insurance provided by the company.
The allegation was that the operator was not providing the service in some locations. The company requested the payment of R$22 million and obtained an injunction in this regard from the STJ (Superior Court of Justice), which was discussed in the STF at the request of the Amazonas Attorney’s Office.
The then minister Luís Roberto Barroso suspended the injunction, ordering the suspension of payments to Hapvida, contrary to what Viviane requested. The merits of the case ended up not being judged by the STF due to loss of purpose, since there was a decision in the case’s originating process in another court.
Hapvida did not respond to the report’s questions, and SEB declined to comment.
Banco Master
The performance of Viviane’s office came into focus after the newspaper O Globo revealed that Banco Master signed it for 36 months, from the beginning of 2024, with monthly payments of R$3.6 million.
With this, the office would earn, by the beginning of 2027, R$129 million from the financial institution, if it had not been liquidated by the Central Bank. .
If payments were honored by October 2025, the last month before intervention by the BC, the contract generated revenue of R$79 million for the office.
The document that reproduces the bank’s contract with Viviane’s office was reportedly found on the cell phone of Daniel Vorcaro, owner of the bank, who was arrested in November. In messages, he would have made it clear that disbursements to the law firm were a priority and could not fail to be made under any circumstances.
