Supreme Court
October 16, 2023
Contact: Amy Starnes
Director of Public Affairs
512.463.1441 or email
AUSTIN — The Texas Board of Law Examiners announced the three individuals who scored the highest on the July 2023 Texas Bar Exam. Two of the top scorers are May 2023 graduates of the University of Texas School of Law.
According to the Board of Law Examiners (BLE), 3,025 examinees took the July bar exam, and the overall pass rate was 71%. Although examinees’ scores are confidential, by tradition, the Supreme Court of Texas liaison to the BLE, Justice Brett Busby, calls the three top scorers to personally congratulate them and ask if they would like to be publicly recognized for their top results.
“The Supreme Court is extremely proud of the achievements of these amazing new Texas lawyers,” Justice Busby said. “We welcome them to the bar and wish them productive and fulfilling careers in the law.”
Ethan Head, a May 2023 graduate of UT School of Law, scored the highest of those who took the July exam. A native Texan born in Plano, Head clerked for the Lower Colorado River Authority, Texas Municipal League, and Texas Association of School Boards, according to the BLE. He works for DLA Piper LLP in Austin.
Daniel Cowan, a May 2023 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, received the second-hig
hest score. Cowan served as a judicial intern for the Michigan Supreme Court and now works as an associate in the corporate practice of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Austin.
Catherin
e Buthod, a May 2023 graduate of UT School of Law, claimed the third-highest score on the Texas exam. She currently clerks for U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen in the Southern District of Texas. After her clerkship ends, she says she will remain in Houston to work as a trial associate for Beck Redden.
The top scorers will be honored, along with all other inductees, at the State Bar of Texas New Lawyers Induction Ceremony on October 30 at Bass Concert Hall in Austin.