Two lawyers arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court this month have given new meaning to the phrase “busy holiday season.”

Jones Day partner Noel Francisco was preparing for an argument Jan. 13 in the historic NLRB v. Noel Canning case on recess appointments, while Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law professor Mark Rienzi was getting ready to argue Jan. 15 in another weighty case, McCullen v. Coakley, on the constitutionality of a Massachusetts law barring protests within 35 feet of an abortion clinic.