Federal Judge Denies NWMLS in Antitrust Legal Battle with Compass — RISMedia

A federal judge dealt a blow to the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) on Wednesday, denying its attempt to halt discovery in an explosive federal antitrust case that’s part of a nationwide legal showdown reshaping how homes are sold across America.

U.S. District Judge John Weinberg rejected NWMLS’s motion to stay discovery while the listing service fights to dismiss the lawsuit brought by Compass, according to court documents filed Wednesday with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle.

The ruling means Compass can now dig through NWMLS’s internal documents and communications—exactly what it wanted to avoid. In his ruling, Weinberg wrote that while NWMLS’s motion to dismiss “would be dispositive if…