The California State Bar has hired a former employment lawyer and mediator to investigate how the essay topics for the July 2019 bar exam were erroneously disclosed the week before the test was administered.

The bar will pay Jean Gaskill, once a partner with now-defunct Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison in San Francisco, $200 an hour plus travel, lodging and other expenses to conduct the investigation, according to an agreement between Gaskill and the bar that was released Friday.