Breaking the Ice: Seeking ‘high impact’ on religious liberties

Attorney Brent Robbins is working to protect the religious rights of people in Minnesota and nationally in his new role with the Upper Midwest Law Center.

Robbins serves as religious liberty counsel for the center, a nonprofit public interest law firm. He previously worked at General Mills for 24 years, including 10 years as vice president and deputy general counsel.

“I passionately believe in protecting the rights of people as they seek to live out what is most fundamental to their sense of being — their faith, and I want to have a high impact on that,” Robbins said.

Before joining the center this fall, Robbins in recent years represented religious rights clients in courts across the country pro bono and drafted amicus briefs for circuit courts and the U.S. Supreme Court.

“The Supreme Court has issued a lot of cases in the last couple of years on religious liberty, and I don’t think we’ve quite caught up,” Robbins said of Minnesota.

Name: Brent Robbins

Title: Counsel, religious liberty, Upper Midwest Law Center

Education: B.A. history, Yale University; J.D., Vanderbilt University

Q: Best way to start a conversation with you?

A: Come up and talk to me. Come over and talk to me or I will probably come over and talk to you.

Q: Why law school?

A: I thought I would be good at it, and I thought it would be interesting. You meet people in their tough moments, and you can be helpful. I’m a history major. I’m a good writer. I like doing the research and writing. I also like helping people in a practical way that matters to them. It’s that scholarly yet intensely practical that’s a great combination for me.

Q: What are you reading?

A: I always start my morning with reading the Bible. I’m reading “Tombstone,” a horrible story of the Great Leap Forward in China, a government-induced famine where 36 million people were killed. For lighter reading, I’m reading the Aubrey-Maturin series, the “Master and Commander” series. I’m on book 17, so I’m sad I only have three books left after this one.

Q: Pet peeve?

A: Misuse of apostrophes. I also have an anti-pumpkin spice fixation right now. I really don’t dislike pumpkin spice, but I dislike its use in everything

Q: Best part of your work?

A: Working on things that matter to people. Working for a public interest law firm on causes means you get to meet people, and things you care about, they care about and your interests are directly aligned.

Q: Most challenging?

A: There’s a lot at stake, and you don’t want to let people down. One of the inevitable parts of being in a public interest firm is resources are always tight. You don’t want to miss something. You don’t want to make a mistake that will hurt your clients’ rights or the cause. I feel a heavy responsibility to the cause.

Q: Where would you take someone visiting your hometown?

A: I was born and raised in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, until I was 18. I’ve lived in Minnesota for 30 years, and I love it. If I’m thinking back to Portsmouth, I’d take them to the waterfront. There’s a historic set of buildings right off the waterfront called Strawbery Banke, where you see Portsmouth as it was in the 1700s and 1800s.

Q: Legal figure you admire?

A: Kristen Waggoner, the head of the Alliance Defending Freedom. She has done a remarkable job, both leading the most important religious liberty organization in the country and still being a lawyer that argues cases.

Q: Misconception about your work?

A: How quickly things can happen and how much we can accomplish. I blame “Suits” for this entire phenomenon. I think people probably expect things too quickly and a little too much from law.

Q: Favorite book, movie or TV show about lawyers?

A: I could be very high minded here, but if I’m honest, I’m gonna go with John Grisham. I love his books, and the movies are great, so I enjoy all of that.