Commissions Moved into the Contract: Drafting and Advising After the NAR Reset

Aaron Gott, Partner/Chief Operating Officer | Bona Law

Aaron Gott counsels companies on antitrust compliance before litigation arises, including pricing conduct, information-sharing arrangements, trade association participation, and distribution relationships, and litigates the competition disputes that follow when those arrangements are challenged. His matters include Southeast Ready Mix et al. v. Argos North America, Inc., et al., a price-fixing and group-boycott conspiracy case, and PharmacyChecker.com v. NABP et al., an antitrust case against industry associations accused of conspiring to eliminate competition. He has served as lead counsel in dozens of antitrust cases, appeared before the U.S. Supreme Court, and argued appeals in federal courts of appeals across the country.

• Education & Credentials

Aaron earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from The Florida State University College of Law, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif and served as Executive Editor of The Florida State University Law Review. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and Military Science from Iowa State University. He is admitted in California and Minnesota and before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Second, Fourth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits, and federal district courts in California, Minnesota, and Colorado.

• Recognition & Leadership

Aaron has been recognized by Best Lawyers for Antitrust Litigation in Minneapolis and named a Super Lawyers Rising Star in both San Diego and Minneapolis. His 2024 article on cartel economics was nominated for the Concurrences Antitrust Writing Awards. He serves as chief operating officer of Bona Law in addition to maintaining an active national litigation practice.

• Professional Involvement

Aaron chairs the Antitrust Law Section Council of the Minnesota State Bar Association and is a member of the Federal Bar Association’s Minnesota Chapter. He has presented antitrust CLE programs for the ABA Section of Antitrust Law, the Minnesota State Bar Association, and Quimbee, including Antitrust 101: Everything You Need to Know About When to Hire an Antitrust Lawyer and Antitrust v. The Government: Litigating Government-Induced Competition Problems.

• Experience

Aaron’s practice centers on companies facing antitrust class actions, government investigations, and competition-related business disputes, carrying matters from investigation or complaint through JPML consolidation, motions to dismiss, class certification, summary judgment, trial, and appeal. He has served as lead counsel for defendants in major price-fixing MDLs, including In re Turkey Antitrust Litigation, In re Disposable Contact Lens Antitrust Litigation, and In re Capacitors Antitrust Litigation, and as outside litigation counsel for the California Attorney General in People v. Vitol. He is also among the nation’s leading authorities on antitrust federalism and the state-action immunity doctrine, having litigated more than a dozen antitrust cases against state agencies and local governments and argued the issue in appeals including North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC. Before law school, he served nearly a decade in the U.S. Army, including a combat deployment to Iraq, and worked as a professional writer and editor.

Douglas Miller, Real Estate and Consumer Protection Attorney | AttorneyRE

Douglas Miller originated Moehrl v. NAR, et al., the commission lawsuit, and has spent more than 25 years as a real estate and consumer protection attorney in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area. As Executive Director of Consumer Advocates in American Real Estate, the only non-profit 501(c)(3) dedicated to consumer protection in residential real estate, he has advocated nationwide against price fixing of buyer brokerage commissions, dual and designated agency, secret bonuses paid by listing brokers to buyer brokers, pocket listings, controlled business arrangements, and data hoarding through MLS and other arrangements.

• Education & Credentials

Doug has practiced real estate and consumer protection law in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area for more than 25 years. He founded, owned, and operated an independent Twin Cities title company with over 100 employees from 1989 to 2012, selling his interest in the firm to pursue consumer protection in residential real estate.

• Recognition & Leadership

Doug testified before Congress on corruption in the title insurance industry. Under his leadership, his title company was voted the most technologically advanced title company in the nation. He helped draft the Code of Ethics for the National Association of Independent Land Title Agents.

• Professional Involvement

Doug serves as Executive Director of Consumer Advocates in American Real Estate, where he has drafted an amicus brief, filed numerous complaints with regulatory authorities, drafted letters to legislators, assisted journalists on dozens of stories, and supported other nonprofits working on consumer issues in residential real estate. He volunteered on the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Residential Forms Committee for more than a decade.

• Experience

Doug has brought multiple class action consumer protection lawsuits, including Moehrl v. NAR, et al.; an action against an Edina brokerage firm that engaged in undisclosed dual agency; an action against a Minneapolis brokerage firm that secretly offered sub-standard cooperative fees to cooperating brokers; an action against an Edina firm that set up sham title firms to pay kickbacks to realtors; and an action against an Edina brokerage and title firm that steered clients to its in-house firm. He also provides expert witness testimony and advises consumers on self-dealing and new construction agreements.

SESSION 1 – The NAR Settlement and Beyond: The Current Antitrust Landscape in Real Estate | Aaron Gott | 2:30pm – 3:30pm

The 2024 NAR settlement resolved the commission-structure antitrust claims that dominated headlines for two years, and the Eighth Circuit has since closed the door to further challenges to that deal. But that isn’t the end of the matter, or the only antitrust problem for the industry. This session gives real estate attorneys a practical grounding in the current state of the commission-structure problem, and then turns to a new antitrust front in real estate as brokers race to build or join private listing networks. Attendees will leave with a working framework for identifying antitrust red flags for their brokerage clients.

BREAK | 3:30pm – 3:40pm

SESSION 2 – Representing Residential Real Estate Consumers After the NAR Settlement | Douglas Miller | 3:40pm – 4:40pm

The NAR settlement has changed how residential real estate commissions are negotiated and disclosed, creating new challenges for attorneys representing buyers and sellers. This session examines how post-settlement brokerage practices affect consumer interests, from negotiating buyer-broker agreements and evaluating compensation arrangements to identifying conflicts of interest and potential steering. Attendees will explore practical strategies for advising clients on negotiable fees, evaluating contractual obligations, assessing affiliated service-provider arrangements, and ensuring clients understand their options before committing to a transaction. The session emphasizes consumer-focused representation and practical considerations