[I have a business relationship with some of the entities mentioned herein. As always, none of them have or had any input into my thoughts here.]
Late yesterday, I got news that the court in Illinois handed down its decision on the preliminary injunction (PI) motion in the Zillow v MRED lawsuit. I skimmed it, then read it over again.
When Zillow won its PI motion against Compass, I called it a total victory. Well, in this case, the term that keeps coming to mind is Fatality! from the old Mortal Kombat video game.
Briefly put, Zillow lost every single argument it made. It wasn't particularly close. At no point did it appear that the court had to really struggle to balance the equities, or really parse the antitrust laws. And at a few points, it appeared that the court was actually annoyed at Zillow for making some of the arguments that it made.
This is a major ruling and will change the overall environment for Zillow and for the industry as a whole.
Now, let's be clear that this is just the PI motion, not the trial itself. Zillow could win at trial, in theory, though practically speaking... that almost never happens. In theory, Zillow could appeal this ruling or the trial itself to an appellate court and could get a different outcome. Anything is possible. But that don't mean it's likely, or that Zillow would be wise to spend further millions going down this legal rabbit hole.
So let's look at the ruling together, then let me give you my thoughts and takeaways and what I see as the likely result of this litigation and this ruling. As always, I am not your lawyer and none of this is legal advice. It is edutainment and industry analysis.
Let's get into it.
