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Of 3,299 State Bar Examinees, Here’s the Top 3

October 17, 2024 Allen Pusey

Scores on the state’s bar exam are confidential. Statistics are not. This much we know from the Board of Law Examiners: of 3,299 individuals who took the latest exam back in July, 74.5 percent of them passed.

But courtesy of Texas Supreme Court Justice Brett Busby, the court’s liaison to the BLE, we do know the names of the top three examinees. By tradition, each of the top three examinees get a congratulatory call from the liaison who requests their permission to recognize their achievement in the public square.

“The Supreme Court is very proud of the achievements of these talented new Texas lawyers,” Justice Busby said, releasing the names. “We welcome them to the bar and wish them productive and fulfilling careers in the law.”

Here are the names [a light, imagined drum roll is optional]:

1. Daniel Dreyfus, a corporate associate at Kirkland & Ellis in Houston, is a May graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, scored highest the 3,299 taking the exam. Before law school, he worked as a security intelligence analyst for an insurance company.

2. Davis Metzger, a native Texan, graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law. Metzger achieved the second-highest exam score. He’s already working in Houston as a commercial trial attorney at Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing. At Virginia he was lead articles editor for the Journal of Law and Politics, and perhaps more importantly was co-president of the UVA Lone Star Lawyers Association.

3. John Carbonari, currently a law clerk for Judge Michelle Slaughter on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, ranked a sparkling third among examinees. He graduated from the University of Houston Law Center earlier this year and served an externship with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.

The top scorers will be honored, along with all other inductees, at the State Bar of Texas New Lawyers Induction Ceremony at 10 a.m. on Oct. 28 in Austin at Bass Concert Hall.

Allen Pusey

Allen Pusey is a senior editor and writer at The Texas Lawbook.

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