Real Estate Brokers Now Treat Antitrust Expertise as Core Business, Not Cost Center

Compass hired Ethan Glass, former DOJ Antitrust Division chief, as Chief Legal Officer—a move signaling how residential real estate platforms have elevated regulatory capability from back-office function to competitive necessity. As industry-wide commission settlements reshape brokerage models, companies that built sophisticated legal infrastructure earlier are positioning themselves with structural advantages over competitors playing legal defense reactively.