REX isn't giving up on a Supreme Court hearing 

REX, a now-defunct low-fee brokerage that filed an antitrust lawsuit against NAR and Zillow four years ago — but has been repeatedly rebuffed in the courts — continues its legal fight in its latest pitch to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, authorities in Las Vegas are asking a district court for advice on how to proceed with evidence turnover in a sexual assault case involving a former eXp agent.

REX asks Supreme Court to change its mind

Nearly a month after the Supreme Court declined to review REX's case alleging NAR and Zillow conspired to conceal non-MLS listings on Zillow's site, REX has filed a petition for rehearing.

"A ruling for REX would foster competition in the multi-trillion-dollar residential real estate market while also closing a loophole in antitrust law that other associations of competitors could try to exploit," the Nov. 14 filing says.

If that loophole stays open, "optional rules would become a new type of wink and nod used to achieve the same collusive effect of an express, binding agreement," the filing continued, adding, "Stopping concerted action through optional rules is critical."

REX originally petitioned the court in September to review a March ruling by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which affirmed a lower court's finding that Zillow and NAR did not conspire against REX because NAR's "no-commingling rule," which the trade group repealed in June, was optional.

REX's September petition noted that different appeals courts have been split on the broader question of whether trade associations can avoid antitrust liability by making certain rules optional. An attorney for REX argued in the Nov. 14 filing that, in the time since REX's September petition, a new opinion in the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has widened that split three-to-three — and the court should therefore step in to resolve the question.

REX is asking the Supreme Court to order Zillow and NAR to respond to REX's rehearing petition and to reconsider reviewing the case.

Release of evidence, testimony under review in agent sex trafficking case 

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) and one of its detectives are asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada for guidance in a sexual assault case against former eXp agent Michael Bjorkman.

Three weeks ago, the plaintiffs in a sexual misconduct lawsuit against current and former eXp executives and agents, including Bjorkman, filed a motion to compel testimony and produce documents from LVMPD Detective Jason LaFreniere. 

Bjorkman's attorney had previously objected to LaFreniere turning over a thumb drive containing Bjorkman's arrest report, photos, texts, voicemails, and more than a dozen voluntary statements and recorded interviews, among other evidence.

On Oct. 23, LaFreniere was deposed by Bjorkman's counsel, but LaFreniere's attorney cut the deposition short after "statements — whether appropriately construed as threats (explicit or implicit) — were made by counsel for defendants" during the questioning. 

One such statement "made mention of a misdemeanor," an attorney for LCMPD and LeFrenier wrote in a Nov. 12 filing. 

The deposition was ultimately suspended "as the situation escalated," explained the attorney, who asked for guidance on how to proceed and requested the court's participation in any future depositions.