Supreme Court
October 17, 2024
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 2024 Texas Bar Exam.
According to the Board of Law Examiners (BLE), 3,299 individuals took the July exam, achieving an overall pass rate of 74.5%. Although examinees’ scores are confidential, by tradition, the Supreme Court of Texas liaison to the BLE, Justice Brett Busby, calls the top three scorers to personally congratulate them and ask if they would like to be publicly recognized for their results.
“The Supreme Court is very proud of the achievements of these talented new Texas lawyers,” Justice Busby said. “We welcome them to the bar and wish them productive and fulfilling careers in the law.”
Daniel Dreyfus, a May graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, achieved the highest score of all examinees. Dreyfus is a corporate associate at Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Houston. Prior to law school, he worked as a security intelligence analyst for an insurance company.
Davis Metzger, a native Texan and a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, is the second-highest scorer. Metzger was co-president of the UVA Lone Star Lawyers Association and a lead articles editor for the Journal of Law and Politics. He works as a commercial trial attorney at Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing in Houston.
John Carbonari, a May 2024 graduate of the University of Houston Law Center, is the third-highest scorer. Carbonari served the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas during an externship in 2022. He currently is a law clerk for Judge Michelle Slaughter on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
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 October 28 at Bass Concert Hall, 2350 Robert Dedman Dr., Austin.