☀️ Good morning from The Legal File! Here is the rundown of today's top legal news:

✍️ California finalizes deal to give its own bar exam

The State Bar of California has finalized a $8.25 million deal with test prep company Kaplan Exam Services to produce the state’s bar exam for the next five years, the attorney licensing body said on Aug. 13.

Beginning in February, California will no longer use any test components developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners and it will not give the NCBE's new version of the national bar exam set to debut in July 2026.

Developing its own test will allow California to give its bar exam remotely or in test centers, instead of in large convention centers across the state—a change the state bar said is expected to save as much as $3.8 million annually. The national conference requires its tests to be administered in person.

“This historic agreement allows us to provide applicants with exam options that they prefer and also helps us close a significant deficit in the State Bar Admissions Fund,” said State Bar Board of Trustees Chair Brandon Stallings.

The upcoming California exam will not “substantially modify” preparation for the exam and will be similar to the current test, the state bar added. Kaplan will no longer provide bar exam prep services in California as part of the agreement but will provide faculty and student study guides that the state bar will distribute for free.

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🗳️ Indicted pro-Trump lawyer is ousted as counsel for ex-Overstock CEO in Dominion case

The test for disqualifying opposing counsel in federal court in Washington, D.C., is extremely stringent: You have to show that the other side’s lawyer engaged in “truly egregious misconduct likely to infect future proceedings.”

On Tuesday, the magistrate in Dominion Voting System’s defamation lawsuit against former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne found that Byrne’s lawyer did all that and more. 

Alison Frankel has the “flabbergasting” story of why Stefanie Lambert – a Donald Trump ally facing criminal election interference charges in Michigan – was disqualified from continuing to represent Byrne.

Lambert told Frankel she plans an immediate appeal of the DQ decision.

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💸 Court upholds blockbuster $267 million legal fee award in Dell lawsuit

Five law firms should receive $267 million in legal fees for obtaining a $1 billion settlement for shareholders of Dell Technologies, the Delaware Supreme Court ruled on Aug. 14, rejecting arguments that the payment was a windfall.

Plaintiffs in the Dell case alleged that they and other shareholders were short-changed in a controversial $23.9 billion transaction in 2018 that marked Dell's return as a publicly traded company.

The settlement was announced in November 2022, averting a trial scheduled to begin the next month.

In the 10 largest federal securities cases, lawyers collected on average less than 10% of the recoveries as fees, compared with 27% in the Dell case, according to Pentwater.

Chief Justice Collins Seitz said the potential for large fees gives lawyers an incentive to take tough cases, and risk getting paid nothing if they lose.

“It was a highly contentious litigation, spanning two and a half years, with nearly 100 lawyers entering appearance for the defense,” Seitz wrote. ”The underlying transaction was complex, and counsel achieved an excellent settlement for the class on the eve of trial.”

The fee in the Dell case is the second largest in Delaware and would rank fifth largest in federal securities litigation, according to data from Stanford Law School cited in Pentwater's court filings.

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⏳ Trump loses third bid for judge to step aside in hush money case

A New York judge declined for a third time to step aside from the case in which Donald Trump was convicted of charges involving hush money paid to a porn star, dismissing the former U.S. president's claim of conflict of interest related to political consultancy work by the judge's daughter.

As he did in April and in August 2023, Justice Juan Merchan in a decision released on Aug. 14 denied a request by Trump's lawyers that he recuse himself from the first case involving criminal charges against a former U.S. president. Merchan is scheduled to sentence Trump on Sept. 18.

"Defendant has provided nothing new for this Court to consider. Counsel has merely repeated arguments that have already been denied by this and higher courts" and were "rife with inaccuracies and unsubstantiated claims," Merchan wrote in the ruling, dated Aug. 13.

Trump's lawyers separately have asked the judge to throw out his conviction in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's July ruling giving former presidents broad immunity from prosecution for official acts taken in office. Merchan has said he will decide on Trump's arguments by Sept. 16.

Trump was found guilty by a jury on May 30 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records for having covered up former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen's $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to avert a sex scandal before the 2016 U.S. election.

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👋 That's all for today, thank you for reading The Legal File, and have a great day!

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