Eimer Stahl secured a major victory for Compass International Holdings (Compass), the nation's largest residential real estate brokerage, in a closely watched antitrust lawsuit brought by Zillow challenging Compass's use of private listing and phased marketing strategies. In a 54-page opinion issued September 15, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois denied Zillow's motion for a preliminary injunction, concluding that Zillow had not shown a likelihood of success on its Sherman Act claims, and dissolved the temporary restraining order that had remained in place during the litigation.
Zillow alleged that Compass and Midwest Real Estate Data LLC (MRED) conspired to deny it access to residential real estate listing data and sought emergency injunctive relief on federal antitrust grounds. The court rejected those arguments, finding that Zillow had not established an unlawful agreement between Compass and MRED, had not shown a likelihood of success on its claims of unreasonable restraint of trade or monopolization, had not demonstrated harm to competition sufficient to support its claims, and had not established the irreparable harm necessary for extraordinary relief.
Eimer Stahl was retained to represent Compass shortly after the lawsuit was filed in May 2026 and successfully opposed Zillow's requests for emergency injunctive relief. The litigation then proceeded on an expedited schedule that included extensive discovery, a two-day evidentiary hearing before Judge John Tharp in July 2026, and post-hearing briefing addressing Zillow's antitrust and conspiracy allegations.
The Eimer Stahl team representing Compass included Nate Eimer, Vanessa Jacobsen, Alec Solotorovsky, Brian Chang, and Jason Parkman.
