Glass’s skilled relationship with Compass formally started in late April of this 12 months, when it employed Glass, then a companion at Cooley LLP, to characterize it in its antitrust go well with in opposition to Northwest MLS (NWMLS).
However, the antitrust lawyer isn’t any stranger to the true property trade. He most not too long ago represented the Nationwide Affiliation of Realtors (NAR) in each the Sitzer/Burnett fee lawsuit and the antitrust go well with filed by REX Actual Property in opposition to each NAR and Zillow coping with NAR’s optionally available no-commingling rule, which is now defunct.
Previous to this, Glass spent practically a decade working within the Division of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division from 2007 to 2016, first as a trial lawyer, then as an assistant chief. Throughout his time on the DOJ, Glass helped lead a number of notable antitrust circumstances, together with one in opposition to American Categorical and one other coping with the Comcast/Time Warner merger. Nevertheless, a lot of Glass’ time on the DOJ was spent investigating and litigating in opposition to MLS organizations for anticompetitive conduct.
Glass was most notably a part of the DOJ workforce that introduced an antitrust go well with in opposition to the Columbia, South Carolina-based Consolidated MLS (CMLS). Filed in Could 2008 in U.S. District Courtroom in South Carolina, the lawsuit handled a number of CMLS guidelines and practices that the DOJ felt “banned revolutionary actual property brokerage enterprise fashions and raised boundaries to entry for brand new brokers within the Columbia space.”
“By its anticompetitive guidelines and practices, CMLS harmed Columbia space homebuyers and residential sellers by limiting the number of companies obtainable to them and elevating the commissions these customers paid for his or her brokers’ companies,” based on the movement for judgement of the settlement the events reached in 2009.
Whereas the go well with took concern with many CMLS guidelines and insurance policies, one of many foremost focal factors was a $5,000 initiation price CMLS charged new candidates for membership. After CMLS was knowledgeable of the DOJ’s intentions to deliver this lawsuit, it lowered the price to $2,500, however the DOJ nonetheless felt that the price was extreme.
In a submitting, the DOJ mentioned it had no less than 9 brokers keen to supply testimony that this price deterred them from becoming a member of CMLS and competing within the Columbia space. Finally, it was determined that CMLS was not allowed to cost new member charges that exceed the associated fee incurred by CMLS in including the brand new member.
“This provision ensures that CMLS costs candidates an initiation price no larger than its prices in admitting a brand new member and that it can not use its price to maintain undesirable competitors out of the Columbia market,” a submitting said.
In a press release posted on LinkedIn, Glass mentioned he’s trying ahead to bringing his a long time of expertise to Compass and is grateful for the chance to contribute to the brokerage’s mission.
“Compass is dedicated to empowering brokers and guaranteeing owners retain management over how their properties are marketed – a mission that would not be extra essential at this pivotal second for residential actual property,” Glass wrote.
For his or her half, Compass and Reffkin are emphasizing what they are saying Glass’s appointment means for Compass’s path ahead and its campaign in opposition to NAR’s Clear Cooperation Coverage.
“His appointment reinforces Compass’s dedication to defending vendor selection, empowering brokers, and difficult restrictive practices that restrict when, the place, and the way owners can market their properties,” Reffkin wrote on LinkedIn. “At Compass, we firmly imagine brokers shouldn’t be fined by MLSs or banned by Zillow for advertising listings off their platforms, and that no agent must be informed by an MLS or Zillow how they have to work with their shoppers. Bringing Ethan Glass on board as our Chief Authorized Officer displays our unwavering dedication to house owner selection.”
Whereas many trade professionals have congratulated Glass on his new function, to this point, few seem like keen to weigh in on what his appointment might imply for the true property trade.
Ying Solar Coyle, an actual property agent and present senior vp at Compass, was one skilled who shared some ideas, calling Compass’s rent a “plot twist” in a LinkedIn submit.
“The lawyer who defended NAR simply grew to become their largest risk,” Coyle wrote. “This isn’t only a hiring determination. It’s a chess transfer that would reshape the complete actual property trade.”
In response to Coyle, Glass’s appointment is an enormous deal for Compass because it seems poised to tackle much more trade gamers as a result of he is aware of NAR’s authorized methods.
“The one that as soon as protected NAR’s pursuits is now main the cost to probably dismantle their restrictive practices,” Coyle wrote. “This hiring sends a transparent message: Compass isn’t simply competing on expertise and repair — they’re combating for elementary adjustments to how our trade operates.”
