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Real estate brokerage Compass and its CEO Robert Reffkin have spent the past several months taking shots at other industry players in the form of social media posts and lawsuits. But perhaps Compass’s most recent shot came in the form of the firm’s newest hire.
On Tuesday, the nation’s top brokerage by sales volume announced its appointment of Ethan Glass as its first ever chief legal officer.
Prior to Glass’s appointment, Compass’s top legal role was that of General Counsel, a position held by Bradley Serwin since May 2020. According to a document filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, Serwin will remain at Compass through the end of 2025 and will continue to provide “certain consulting services” throughout the first quarter of 2026.
What does this mean for the real estate industry? Time will tell exactly what Compass and Glass have up their sleeves. Here’s everything we know today.
Glass’s professional relationship with Compass officially began in late April of this year, when it hired Glass, then a partner at Cooley LLP, to represent it in its antitrust suit against Northwest MLS (NWMLS).
But, the antitrust attorney is no stranger to the real estate industry. He most recently represented the National Association of Realtors (NAR) in both the Sitzer/Burnett commission lawsuit and the antitrust suit filed by REX Real Estate against both NAR and Zillow dealing with NAR’s optional no-commingling rule, which is now defunct.
Prior to this, Glass spent nearly a decade working in the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division from 2007 to 2016, first as a trial attorney, then as an assistant chief. During his time at the DOJ, Glass helped lead several notable antitrust cases, including one against American Express and another dealing with the Comcast/Time Warner merger. However, much of Glass’ time at the DOJ was spent investigating and litigating against MLS organizations for anticompetitive conduct.
Glass was most notably part of the DOJ team that brought an antitrust suit against the Columbia, South Carolina-based Consolidated MLS (CMLS). Filed in May 2008 in U.S. District Court in South Carolina, the lawsuit dealt with several CMLS rules and practices that the DOJ felt “banned innovative real estate brokerage business models and raised barriers to entry for new brokers in the Columbia area.”
“Through its anticompetitive rules and practices, CMLS harmed Columbia area homebuyers and home sellers by limiting the variety of services available to them and raising the commissions those consumers paid for their brokers’ services,” according to the motion for judgement of the settlement the parties reached in 2009.
While the suit took issue with many CMLS rules and policies, one of the main focal points was a $5,000 initiation fee CMLS charged new applicants for membership. After CMLS was informed of the DOJ’s intentions to bring this lawsuit, it lowered the fee to $2,500, but the DOJ still felt that the fee was excessive.
In a filing, the DOJ said it had at least nine brokers willing to offer testimony that this fee deterred them from joining CMLS and competing in the Columbia area. Ultimately, it was decided that CMLS was not allowed to charge new member fees that exceed the cost incurred by CMLS in adding the new member.
“This provision ensures that CMLS charges applicants an initiation fee no greater than its costs in admitting a new member and that it cannot use its fee to keep unwanted competition out of the Columbia market,” a filing stated.
In a statement posted on LinkedIn, Glass said he is looking forward to bringing his decades of experience to Compass and is grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the brokerage’s mission.
“Compass is committed to empowering agents and ensuring homeowners retain control over how their properties are marketed – a mission that could not be more important at this pivotal moment for residential real estate,” Glass wrote.
For their part, Compass and Reffkin are emphasizing what they say Glass’s appointment means for Compass’s path forward and its crusade against NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy.
“His appointment reinforces Compass’s commitment to protecting seller choice, empowering agents, and challenging restrictive practices that limit when, where, and how homeowners can market their homes,” Reffkin wrote on LinkedIn. “At Compass, we firmly believe agents should not be fined by MLSs or banned by Zillow for marketing listings off their platforms, and that no agent should be told by an MLS or Zillow how they must work with their clients. Bringing Ethan Glass on board as our Chief Legal Officer reflects our unwavering commitment to homeowner choice.”
While many industry professionals have congratulated Glass on his new role, so far, few appear to be willing to weigh in on what his appointment may mean for the real estate industry.
Ying Sun Coyle, a real estate agent and current senior vice president at Compass, was one professional who shared some thoughts, calling Compass’s hire a “plot twist” in a LinkedIn post.
“The attorney who defended NAR just became their biggest threat,” Coyle wrote. “This isn’t just a hiring decision. It’s a chess move that could reshape the entire real estate industry.”
According to Coyle, Glass’s appointment is a big deal for Compass as it appears poised to take on even more industry players because he knows NAR’s legal strategies.
“The person who once protected NAR’s interests is now leading the charge to potentially dismantle their restrictive practices,” Coyle wrote. “This hiring sends a clear message: Compass isn’t just competing on technology and service — they’re fighting for fundamental changes to how our industry operates.”
