Division of Markets

Law school students, after they graduate from law school, must take and pass a bar before they can become a lawyer in a state. Most law students take a preparatory bar course before they take the bar. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Legal (HBJ) was the nation's largest provider of bar review materials and preparatory services. HBJ began offering a Georgia bar review course in direct competition with BRG of Georgia, Inc. (BRG), which was the only other main provider of a bar review preparatory course in the state of Georgia. Subsequently, HBJ and BRG entered into an agreement whereby BRG was granted an exclusive license to market HBJ bar review materials in Georgia in exchange for paying HBJ $100 per student enrolled by BRG in the course. Thus, HBJ agreed not to compete with BRG in Georgia, and BRG agreed not to compete with HBT outside Georgia. Immediately after the agreement was struck, the price of BRG's course in the state of Georgia was increased from $150 to $400. Jay Palmer and other law school graduates who took the BRG bar review course in preparation for the Georgia bar sued BRG and HIBJ, alleging a geographical division of markets, in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act. Are BRG and HBJ liable for violating Section 1 of the Sherman Act? Palmer v. BRG of Georgia, Inc., 498 U.S. 46, 111 S.Ct. 401, 112 L. Ed.2d 349, Web 1990 U.S. Lexis 5901 (Supreme Court of the United States)