August 20, 2026
The Eighth Circuit decided Wednesday to affirm a more than $1 billion class action settlement that’s meant to resolve antitrust claims against the National Association of Realtors and multiple real estate brokerages, which were accused of running an anticompetitive scheme that involved the brokerages following NAR rules that artificially inflated buyer-broker commissions.
In its published opinion, the Eighth Circuit wasn’t convinced by the arguments brought by the group of settlement objectors. The Eighth Circuit ruled that the lower court rightfully determined that the class action settlement met the four factors under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 23, which applies to class actions.
According to the panel, the class action settlement factors under the amended Rule 23 include determining whether the class has adequate representation, whether the settlement negotiations were done “at arm’s length,” whether there’s adequate class relief and whether the settlement treats the class members fairly.
U.S. Circuit Judges Lavenski R. Smith, Ralph R. Erickson and Jonathan A. Kobes sat on the panel for the Eighth Circuit.
The class is represented by Karl Barth, Steve Berman, Rio Pierce, Nathan Emmons, Jeannie Evans of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Brandon J.B. Boulware and Jeremy Suhr of Boulware Law LLC, Robert A. Braun, Benjamin D. Brown, Sabrina Merold and Daniel H. Silverman of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll LLP, Eric L. Dirks and Michael A. Williams of Williams Dirks Dameron LLC, Benjamin H. Fadler, Michael S. Ketchmark and Scott A. McCreight of Ketchmark & McCreight, and Beatrice C. Franklin, Steven G. Sklaver and Marc M. Seltzer of Susman Godfrey LLP.