Appellate lawyers can go their whole careers without experiencing a stretch of arguments like the one Weil, Gotshal & Manges associate Josh Halpern just wrapped up earlier this month.

In May, Halpern argued on behalf of two Rastafarian prisoners in separate cases before the Fifth Circuit and Seventh Circuit seeking damages under the Religious Land Use And Institutionalized Persons Act, or RLUIPA, against prison officials who shaved off their dreadlocks—an emerging religious liberty issue Halpern first identified bubbling up in the district courts while servings as a Bristow Fellow in the U.S. Solicitor General's office.