The U.S. Supreme Court will return Monday for a short week of arguments, in which the justices will consider whether state and local government officials can be held personally liable for alleged religious rights violations and whether government contractors are entitled to immediately appeal denials of derivative sovereign immunity. 

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

The U.S. Supreme Court Friday evening temporarily paused a Rhode Island federal judge's orders compelling the Trump administration to fully fund November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits and transfer roughly $4 billion by the end of the day, hours after the First Circuit denied the administration's emergency request.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has asked a Virginia federal court to dismiss the indictment accusing her of mortgage fraud, slamming the federal charges as "unconstitutional vindictive and selective prosecution" ordered by Donald Trump in response to her successful civil litigation against the president and her outspoken criticism of him.

"Plaintiffs are voluntarily dismissing their Section 1 claim so that the upcoming December 1, 2025, trial can focus on Plaintiffs' Section 2 monopolization claim," counsel for plaintiffs 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports wrote in a motion seeking to dismiss one of their Sherman Act claims with prejudice as their antitrust case against NASCAR proceeds […]

“So, this document could turn out to be relatively benign, or it could turn out to be the beginning of major change in disruption, and, you know, potentially harm to the students at UVA, a law professor, who is a member of the executive council, told Law.com.     

"Context matters. The activity in dispute was not a display at a random location in the United States; it was not at a normal moment in time; and it was not a generic message for equal rights or employee protection," Judge James B. Loken wrote. "Home Depot's restriction on how employees may display messages surrounding […]

The suit may help set the terms of engagement for AI agents as they take on more of the shopping tasks currently handled by human beings.     

A sharp spike in demand helped law firms rise to “new heights during the third quarter, even as expenses continued to climb, according to a new report.      

“This has been an incredibly painful and difficult year for our firm and for me, personally, the most challenging year in my life, Paul Weiss managing partner Brad Karp said during his keynote speech.      

Holland & Knight has joined with Arizona ABS firm Aprio Law and several consultancies and investment businesses. Together they seek to provide end-to-end support to law firm leaders and outside investors looking to navigate a new frontier.      

“It was very clear to us from the beginning that the right thing to do would be to speak out against this, and that silence wasn't an option, said Mims, an Attorney of the Year finalist.