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Overview

BarBri is the biggest company providing a full law study service from first year law school to the bar exam, covering almost all jurisdictions with a wide range of bar review and study programs and materials.

It's one of the most promoted companies for bar prep courses with student reps on every campus and promotional events.

The company is currently owned by The Thomson Corporation, the owner of the well-known Westlaw legal research system. In its literature, it refers to itself as "BarBri, a Thomson business," or "Thomson BarBri."

In addition, BarBri belongs to the same makers of MicroMash (Thomson Reuters), which is a more economical self-study program targeted toward a different crowd. To elaborate, BarBri courses range from approximately $3,000 to $6,000 USD per course whereas MicroMash products (books and study guides) range from $600 to $1,000 USD.

BarBri Controversy & Lawsuits: Class Action Litigation & etc.

BarBri is also one of the most controversial bar prep providers with a class action litigation:

"Park is a class action suit against BarBri. In short, the suit alleges that more than 300,000 students and lawyers were monopolistically overcharged about $1,000 apiece for BarBri bar review courses."

"Plaintiffs allege that BarBri violated the federal antitrust laws by agreeing with Kaplan, Inc., to prevent competition in the market for full-service bar review courses. West Publishing Corporation is the owner of BarBri and is a defendant. The other defendant is Kaplan, Inc. Defendants deny Plaintiffs' allegations and contend that their conduct was legal. On February 2, 2007 the parties entered into a Stipulation and Settlement Agreement."

It might seem as though people either love or hate BarBri. Voices online and offline indicate that students feel "ripped off" while other students feel like taking BarBri is a "must":

"I would recommend taking BarBri the first time, unless you are absolutely sure their method won't work for you."

"The best way to study for the bar is to do practice questions and practice essays. I paid Bar/Bri over two thousand dollars to provide me with materials to work through. The least they could do is give me appropriate and helpful example answers to these goddamn essays that are the bane of my existence right now."

From BarBri Official Site

For more than 40 years, BarBri has provided the most experienced, personalized, and up-to-date bar review course. BarBri combines comprehensive yet concise outlines, dynamic law school professors, and the most complete Multistate and Essay Testing programs.

A Message from Richard J. Conviser, Founder & Chairman:

"I founded BarBri on one simple premise: To provide law students and bar exam takers the tools they need to excel on their exams.

Now 40 years and more than 1 million students later, BarBri is better prepared than ever to execute that mission.

From your very first day of law school, the BarBri Law School Program provides you with our acclaimed outlines, practice questions, and StudySmart® Software, as well as review lectures in many locations. Click for an excerpt from a lecture. When you are ready to tackle the MPRE during your second or third year of law school, the BarBri MPRE Review includes two outlines, a comprehensive review lecture, hundreds of practice questions, and StudySmart® Software for the MPRE.

And of course, when you are ready to tackle the ultimate final exam, your bar exam, BarBri will be there for you with the nation's most experienced, most personalized, and most up-to-date bar review course. Only BarBri combines comprehensive, yet concise outlines, dynamic law school professors, and the most complete Multistate and Essay Testing programs to give you the best chance of passing your bar exam the first time.

I am also pleased to introduce you to a new BarBri program:

The BarBri Patent Bar Review Course utilizes a unique schedule, the most up-to-date materials, practice questions and software to help you pass the Patent Bar Exam, regardless of your knowledge of patent law.

Thank you for your interest in BarBri. All of us at BarBri look forward to helping you maximize your performance in law school and on your exams."

Products

1. BarBri: The Conviser Mini Review by the BarBri Staff (One Mini Review per state)
2. BarBri Bar Review, First Year Review by Thomson Bar / BRI and Richard J. Conviser
3. BarBri Bar Review Professional Responsibility by Richard C. Wydick
4. BarBri Upper Level Review by BarBri
5. BarBri Bar Review Multistate 2007 by Richard Conviser
6. BarBri Bar Review - First Year Review - F'06 S'07 - Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Property, Torts, Review Questions & Answers by BarBri
7. BarBri Bar Review: Multistate 2008 by BarBri
8. BarBri Practice Questions Multistate Testing MPQ 2007 by Various
9. Pass Your Bar Examination, The Practical & Effective Gameplan to Pass the Bar Examination on Your Very First Attempt! by Gary L. Brown
10. BarBri Bar Review New York by BarBri
11. BarBri Drills & Released Questions Multistate Testing MDR 2007 by Various
12. BarBri Bar Review: Upper Level Review, Fall 2006/Spring 2007 (Constitutional Law, Corporations, Criminal Procedure, Evidence, Trusts, Wills) by BarBri
13. BarBri Bar Review the Conviser Mini Review CMR 2007 by THOMSON (Paperback - 2007)

Have you taken BarBri courses or used BarBri materials? Post your comments or review below.