Hagens Berman's managing partner Steve W. Berman was recently named a 2025 Class Action MVP by Law360, recognizing his pivotal role in securing a $22.78 billion settlement in the NCAA Name, Image and Likeness class action on behalf of college athletes, as well as a $418 million settlement with the National Association of Realtors on behalf of home sellers.
In his interview with Law360's Sam Reisman, Steve discussed several other significant cases, the factors that led him to pursue a career in class-action litigation and his guidance for junior attorneys.
About the NCAA Name, Image and Likeness Litigation
Hagens Berman continued its efforts against the NCAA in an additional pending antitrust case regarding name, image and likeness (NIL) rights. In 2020, the firm filed a new lawsuit against the NCAA and its five most powerful conferences — the Pac-12, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC and ACC — claiming defendants knowingly violated federal antitrust laws in abiding by a particular subset of NCAA amateurism rules that prohibit college athletes from receiving anything of value in exchange for the commercial use of their NIL. The firm holds that the NCAA’s regulations illegally limit the compensation that Division I college athletes may receive for the use of their NIL and athletic reputations.
In 2021, following the firm’s victory in the Alston case and denial of defendants’ motion to dismiss the NIL litigation, the NCAA chose to temporarily lift rules restricting certain NIL deals in what the firm believes will be the first step in another massive change in college sports to support college athletes.
After two decades of fighting on behalf of athletes regarding this issue, the firm secured a monumental $22.78 billion settlement for a class of more than 400,000 NCAA players. In addition to $2.78 billion in past damages, the total value of new payments and benefits to college athletes under the new revenue-sharing model is expected to exceed $20 billion over the next 10 years, making it the largest antitrust class-action settlement in history.
In unanimously upholding the rights of NCAA athletes in Alston, Justice Gorsuch wrote the NCAA had sought “immunity from the normal operation of the antitrust laws,” and Justice Kavanaugh stated, “The NCAA is not above the law.” The firm looks forward to continuing to uphold that same sentiment regarding NCAA athlete NIL rights and awaits the court’s final decision. more »
About the Real Estate Commissions Antitrust Litigation
The firm represents home sellers as co-lead counsel accusing the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the largest real estate brokerage firms in the United States of conspiring to artificially inflate commissions associated with home sales — in part by implementing rules that require home sellers to pay commission to the agent representing the buyer. In Moehrl and Burnett, the courts certified damages and injunctive relief classes of sellers who sold their home through a Multiple Listing Service (MLS) during the relevant time periods, as well as current and future owners of residential real estate in affected jurisdictions who are currently listing or will list homes on an MLS. Class settlements encompass sellers who listed their homes on an MLS anywhere in the United States. In an order related to expert discovery, the court said that the buyer-broker policies challenged in the lawsuit facilitate “keeping buyers in the dark and severely restricting negotiations over buyer-broker commissions.”
The firm has reached settlements totaling over $1 billion. The court has granted final approval of the settlements with the National Associate of Realtors ($418 million), HomeServices of America ($250 million), The Real Brokerage Inc. and other real estate companies ($110 million), Anywhere Real Estate ($83.5 million), Keller Williams Realty Inc. ($70 million) and RE/MAX ($55 million). The Court has further granted preliminary approval of settlements with Douglas Elliman ($7.75 million), @properties ($6.5 million) and Realty ONE ($5 million). The case is pending against remaining defendants. The New York Times reported that Steve Brobeck, Ph.D., who served as the executive director of Consumer Federation of America for nearly four decades, estimates that the $100 billion spent per year on residential real estate commissions will probably decline by between $20 billion and $50 billion, if the settlement with NAR is approved by the court. more »
