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August 31, 2005

Bar/Bri Sued Again--Brewer v. West Publishing

Brewer v. West Publishing Co., No. 05-06211 (C.D. Cal. complaint filed Aug. 24, 2005). A second class-action antitrust lawsuit has been filed against Bar/Bri (the first was the Rodriguez case). The basic storyline tracks the Rodriguez complaint, but some tidbits alleged in the complaint (some of which also overlap the Rodriguez complaint) as evidence of antitrust violations:

* Bar/Bri bought out a NY competitor (Marino Bar Review)
* Bar/Bri uses non-compete agreements with its teachers
* Bar/Bri has a practice of tearing down flyers for competing programs (this one seemed particularly shaky)
* Bar/Bri pays off law school administrators to control physical access and prevent competitors from getting physical access
* Bar/Bri uses ABA-branded "scholarships" to price discriminate in favor of students who are considering competitors
* Bar/Bri shut down competition in Louisana, and the price increased accordingly

Thanks to En Passant for catching this.

UPDATE: Anayat Durrani of LawCrossing.com gives an update on the initial lawsuit.

Posted by Eric at August 31, 2005 01:07 PM | Legal Education Industry