Real estate data platform Crexi has strengthened its legal arsenal by enlisting the services of renowned trial lawyer Alex Spiro, a figure best known for his high-profile defense of billionaires, chart-topping musicians, and elite professional athletes. The decision signals Crexi’s intent to mount an aggressive defense in its prolonged dispute with CoStar Group, a dominant force in the property data sector. Court filings released on Wednesday confirm that Spiro, whose legal expertise commands fees of approximately $3,000 per hour, will assume the role of lead defense counsel on behalf of Crexi as the case heads toward trial.
Spiro’s professional pedigree includes representing an array of distinguished clients such as Elon Musk, Jay-Z, and Megan Thee Stallion. Beyond celebrity cases, he has also built a reputation for navigating complex commercial disputes involving major corporations facing challenges from short-sellers, corporate adversaries, or governmental regulators. His reputation for sharp litigation tactics and strategic courtroom presence suggests that Crexi intends to meet CoStar’s allegations with formidable legal firepower.
CoStar Group, currently valued at about $29 billion, occupies a commanding position in the online real estate intelligence industry through its robust portfolio of data-driven platforms that catalog, analyze, and market commercial property listings. The company alleges that Crexi engaged third-party contractors based in India to systematically copy, crop, and repurpose photographs originally published on CoStar’s LoopNet website. According to CoStar’s complaint, this alleged practice deliberately removed visual watermarks indicating CoStar’s ownership. The case, originally filed in 2020, gained significant momentum after a partial court ruling in June that confirmed CoStar’s proprietary rights over the contested images. That decision paved the way for the ongoing dispute to proceed toward a full trial phase.
In response, Crexi launched a countersuit accusing CoStar of using its dominant market position to stifle competition and infringe upon U.S. antitrust statutes. Although a lower court initially dismissed Crexi’s antitrust claims, an appellate court revived them earlier this year, breathing new life into the company’s efforts to expose alleged anti-competitive behavior. Crexi had sought to consolidate both the copyright and antitrust cases into a single trial, a procedural move that a judge ultimately denied. Consequently, the firm must first defend itself against CoStar’s primary allegations before pursuing its own counterclaims.
CoStar’s reputation for prevailing in courtroom battles looms large over the industry, and its legal history is marked by decisive victories against rivals that have allegedly infringed upon its intellectual property. In this context, Crexi’s recruitment of Spiro serves as both a practical and symbolic maneuver—a bold signal, or as some might describe, a shot across the bow—indicating that the company intends to challenge CoStar on equal footing. The move may also attract the attention of other competitors within the proptech domain, including Zillow, which itself became a target of CoStar’s legal actions earlier this year over comparable claims concerning alleged misuse of copyrighted photos hosted on CoStar’s Homes.com platform.
When approached for comment, neither Spiro nor representatives from CoStar issued an immediate response. Nonetheless, Crexi offered a public statement emphasizing its determination and optimism: “CoStar will finally be held accountable for years of misconduct against the commercial real estate industry. We are thrilled to welcome Alex Spiro and the firm Quinn Emanuel to lead our trial team and pursue justice in this critical case.” CoStar’s side, meanwhile, is reportedly being represented by legal experts from the prestigious firm Latham & Watkins.
The unfolding legal confrontation evokes parallels to CoStar’s previous clash with Xceligent, another commercial real estate data firm that originated as a spinoff from LoopNet in 2012. That earlier dispute resulted in Xceligent’s bankruptcy in 2017, approximately a year after CoStar accused it of unlawfully copying thousands of copyrighted photographs. Xceligent, much like Crexi today, had also sought to counter by asserting that CoStar’s practices violated federal monopoly laws. However, in that instance, Xceligent’s claims failed to gain traction in court.
Taken together, these developments underscore a deepening rivalry within the commercial property technology ecosystem—a space increasingly shaped by litigation over data ownership, innovation boundaries, and the balance of competitive power. Crexi’s alliance with Alex Spiro may thus represent a turning point, not only for the company’s own legal fate but for the broader regulatory and competitive dynamics defining the future of real estate data access and digital market fairness.
Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/alex-spiro-costar-crexi-lawsuit-2025-12
