BRIDGE BUILDERS
lawyers should be involved community members and leaders. “Our work is demanding and sometimes it is hard to find time and energy to engage in the community outside of work, but I feel that it is our duty as citizens to be active, engaged community members. It also makes us better lawyers.”
more about a situation. This is so important in building authentic connections and relationships.” “Living and growing in community is essential to the mind and soul,” Weckman Brekke said. “Community is not just defined by geography but also industry, practice, interest and need.” She encourages law students to engage deeply with the St. Thomas Law community, their neighborhoods and in the causes important to them. “Community engagement is finding and accepting a role in the world around you. Meet people, talk with people, share and be vulnerable, and change the world!”
Simon Trautmann
elected role can be even more adversarial than the practice of law. “People care passionately – and sometimes oppositely – about their community. The challenge is always to see opponents as neighbors and people first. It is an uncommon and great privilege to restore relationships between neighbors and sometimes restore community between enemies.” As a city councilmember, Trautmann serves diverse organizations and communities; and as a lawyer, he serves as general counsel for LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC-led organizations. In his experience, consensus building “starts with understanding what is important to people and communities that come from different places. It is valuable to meditate on the values of others. Sometimes it just takes sitting with a seemingly contradictory set of values for an extended period of time. Often it involves being in community with people for common values and goals to emerge. But every good lawyer is always keenly studying and intuiting the values and priorities of others.”
Weckman Brekke has found that being visible in the community also helps people of diverse backgrounds feel comfortable reaching out to her when issues arise. She proactively sends information out to stakeholders so they are aware of issues and have an opportunity to be heard. “It is important for all of us, as we live and work in community, to strive to listen to and try to relate to our neighbors. Ask questions and learn
MEDITATE ON THE VALUES OF OTHERS
Simon Trautmann ’08 J.D. is a second-term city councilmember for Richfield, Minnesota, and a founding attorney of Trautmann Martin Law PLLC, located in Minneapolis. Trautmann has deep ties to his hometown as a “third-generation Richfielder raising the fourth generation.” He finds that serving in an
Weckman Brekke is sworn in as a Scott County commissioner in 2017. Photo by Amanda McKnight, Southwest News.
Summer 2021 Page 15
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